This is a wonderful movie. Simple and elegantly made. There are many layers to this movie that haven't been written about on this site. More like frustration and negativity seem to fuel these message boards. Cynicism is alive and well. The knit-pickers can make a nice lint blindfold if they choose not to see this movie for what it is: entertainment. Like Spielberg, Capra and many others the Polish brothers have arrived with a classic piece of storytelling.

The Polish Brothers have depth and while it seems it's their glossy turn to make a Hollywood movie they continue with their wit and edge, try and spot "The Last Supper" scene. Look for the homage to "The Right Stuff", "Apollo 13" and "Armageddon". The son is named Shepard after the astronaut. And I assume that the daughter is named Stanley after Stanley Kubrick since the Grandpa is named HAL ( 2001 : Space Odyssey). There's definitely an undertone for the hardcore Polish brothers fans. The dialogue alone is worth the price admission. Of course you'll need to suspend your disbelief for a story that seems so far fetched, a man launching himself into space, although I have read of 2 rocket men who have attempted this same idea-- but every time you walk into a movie theater you have to surrender some logic. Just the fact it's called a "movie" should tell you something before you purchase the ticket.

It's unfortunate that most reviewers feel like victims and have a need to share their boredom. I can imagine this movie not doing good with men who have lost their inspiration or desire. My brother in fact didn't like this movie because he said it wasn't possible. I don't remember him having this much trouble with "E.T." or "Forest Gump". My brother gave up his dream of being a writer, he now teaches high school drama. I debated with him over the fact this movie is also metaphorical and it's about everyones dream. That is why the rocket is named "The Dreamer" because everyone is dreamer, or has a dream they're building. This movie really shook up my brother and his dislike of this movie should motivate him.

I enjoyed this movie so much. I was able to bring my dad, kids and husband and that in itself is a triumph and the filmmakers should be awarded for that.

9 out of 10 stars, only because I am keeping one star for my dream.

Billy Bob Thornton plays an ex-astronaut trainee, now a Texas rancher, who never made it to space, so he builds a rocket in his barn. When he is almost ready and tries to buy rocket fuel the government steps in, meanwhile he's about to lose his farm to the bank.

Bruce Willis has a small role as the best friend from the astronaut program who *did* make it into space, and JK Simmmons is good as the head of the FAA. Bruce Dern's role as Fermer's father-in-law is disappointing. For a while it's unclear as to exactly who he is in relationship to the family.

The Astronaut Farmer pretty decent, if you can suspend your disbelief a little. The science of launching a rocket from an old wooden barn without burning down the barn is rather, ah... questionable at best. However, this is *not* a movie about science, it is a movie about people.

This film is pretty heavy on the relationship angle, my 9 year old daughter was bored during large sections, and getting ancy. Finally there were some good action scenes and she got interested again. I'd say children under the age of 12 wouldn't be very interested in this movie, but there isn't anything inappropriate. No sex, drugs or violence, and very mild language.

If you're just going for the entertainment value, it's wonderful. It has some great laughs, especially a dig on the CIA's ability to locate weapons of mass destruction. And it has a hilariously accurate running commentary on small-town life. If you've ever lived in a small town (I mean a really small town) it is a riot.

The Astronaut Farmer will probably remind you of the 1979 made-for-TV family-night mini-series "Salvage 1", about a junkyard owner who builds a rocket from parts in his salvage yard. This one is far better, even if it does have enough similarities to make you wonder if it's a smarter, cleaner remake.

When I first heard there was a movie in which my buddy Billy Bob builds a rocket in his barn, I thought for sure it must be a comedy or some sort of spoof or slapstick. Then I saw the trailer, which portrayed the film as serious drama. Given this background, I must say, I had my doubts when I went to an advanced screening in Salt Lake City last night. I need not have worried. The movie was in fact serious (with some great laughs on the aside) and yet it still worked.

Admittedly, the follow-your-dreams-no-matter-what genre has been around since the dawn of time, but Astronaut Farmer manages to stand out nonetheless. The timeless truths are all the more poignant set against the backdrop of such an impossible dream. The problems Charlie Farmer confronts are in many ways similar to problems we all face. Themes of love, sacrifice, and faith make this movie easy to relate to. It is a metaphor of being true to yourself and following your dreams, not just another sappy you-can-do-anything-you-set-your-mind-to knockoff. I recommend it to anyone who has ever wanted something out of life that seemed out of reach or that others scoffed at.

I saw this wonderfully charming family movie tonight at a free preview in Washington, DC.

The Polish brothers and the Warner Brothers, taking a cue from Walden Media, have hit the family movie sweet spot with this fun, engaging film. I'm giving it an 8 on the basis of pure solid family entertainment value.

(If this movie were a car it would probably be a Toyota Camry)

At the start of the screening, Billy Bob Thorton proudly (and accurately, IMHO) characterized this film as a feel-good Frank Capraesque popcorn flick - the sort of film that would have been on the "A" side of a double bill back in the days of his youth.

Billy Bob and Virginia Madsen do terrific jobs with their characters. I think the timelessly beautiful Ms. Madsen is particularly effective as Farmer's patient, loving, and somewhat exasperated wife.

(and if I were Stephen Colbert interviewing Billy Bob Thorton, I would probably ask this question - "Virginia Madsen: hot co-star, or *the hottest* co-star?").

The story and the arc of the film bring strong elements of "Field of Dreams" and "October Sky" to mind; but absent the mysticism of the former and the somewhat dysfunctional family dynamics of the latter. As a large, tasty helping of pure western Americana I don't doubt for a minute that this film will be a huge hit in Japan.

This movie pays light homage to films like "The Right Stuff" and "Apollo 13." Space fanatics, rocket scientists, and other members of the pocket-protector crowd might experience a few "oh please, you've got to be kidding" moments, but because of its charm, likable characters, and strong acting, this movie requires a lot less disbelief suspension than a film like, oh I don't know, let's say "Armageddon," for example.

Speaking of baby-boomer asteroid wranglers, I was also pleasantly surprised to see Bruce Willis in a small, but key supporting role. I think it's really great when skilled, immensely watchable actors lend their talents to bright young film makers. At the Q&A after the film it was revealed that Bruce took the role as a favor to the Polish brothers and that he essentially worked for free. It was nice of him to do that.

All of the other members of the well-casted supporting ensemble (including some young members of the Polish tribe) delivered solid performances as well.

I won't give you a synopsis of the film here (others are better than me at that sort of thing); but I will tell you that I plan to take my wife and 4, 7, and 12 year old kids to see this film for the pure joy of watching a fun, happy, and slightly quirky movie together as a family.

Saw this last night at an advanced screening. This was a really nice feel good movie for the entire family. I brought my 6 year old daughter and she thoroughly enjoyed it. The thematic content I believe was appropriate for someone as young as her, but I might not bring a younger child to this movie. There were about 5-6 swear words, but she didn't even pick up on them. Billy Bob Thornton did a great job in this movie. Bruce Willis' cameo really was nice. The movie was slow in a few parts. The grandfather's role wasn't totally clear to me, and some of the comedic parts seemed a bit forced. Overall, I enjoyed this movie quite a bit.

I think you can pretty much gauge whether you're going to like this film by deciding whether you think these lines (Farmer's thoughts during a funeral) are good:

There are no stop signs up there. There is no defining space. We have always defined our space. A wall here, a room there. A hallway, a road. We have this way of dividing our space until it equals a direction. We even created a space for the dead. Space is a difficult thing to grasp.

To me, they read just like Bush speaking off the cuff, where he's got an idea he wants to take a stab at but doesn't bother trying to (or perhaps can't) put the stab into coherent form. Here the writer clearly wanted to connect the funeral with outer space somehow, and just figured any old combination of words would do.

I really liked the part during the credits, when Farmer is on the Leno show. That seemed so real that I almost thought Billy Bob Thornton himself had ridden a rocket into space. I'm assuming that was improvised. Good job, Billy Bob! I also like what Farmer said to the guy appraising his property.

But that's it. To me this is a textbook example of a movie make by people who think that movies are commodities. I could go on and on—there are examples of bad movie throughout—but here is just a small selection:

• I've got this theory that a movie gets to feed you one impossible to swallow thing and still be good, or great, even. But that thing has to be mitigated as much as possible, and you don't get to include a second impossible to swallow thing. I'm gullible enough to buy the premise of one guy sending himself into orbit. But with just his 15 year old son for technical help? I don't think so. I'd prefer they had a team of engineers, but if it's gotta stay within the family, at least make the kid older, maybe a 22 year old engineer. And have Farmer consult with some technical people occasionally. It would take hardly anything away from his achievement. And if you're going to sell the idea of 1.5 people building a huge rocket, you've got to convey the incredible amount of work involved. They *say* he works on it a lot, but jeez, show us a montage of him working, or him being too exhausted or sleepy to move, or *something*.

• Why am I supposed to like this guy? He puts his family at risk of complete financial ruin, after seeing what that did to his father. He rents (or buys) a carnival ride to put on the property for the kids to play with, when there is literally no money for groceries. He throws a brick—hard--at his friend who works in a bank. The first time he launches, his wife, in their house and unaware, is so close that the windows explode all around her. He doesn't warn the crowd hanging out outside his ranch, comes within feet of killing them, then doesn't express regret or warn them the second time. He carelessly loses his wedding ring and doesn't give a rip or spend time looking for it (and he has a surprising amount of free time), even though it bothers his wife. And he yanks his kids out of school for a month to help him; Tell me those little girls are going to be of any use beyond bringing him sandwiches and lemonade. And there's talk about how what he's doing is for the whole family, but he seems to be in it completely for himself. For example, he's not shown taking any photos to share later.

• Getting access to fuel is the main thing holding him back (the other being permission to launch). When he gets the idea for an alternative fuel, he tells his son, "we got all the stuff right here in the barn," by which apparently he means a rocketful of fuel components, because you never see anything delivered. Then, to get fuel for the second launch, he uses the tired guy-dressed-like-him ploy to send *all* of the people surveilling his place on a wild goose chase, so the tanker can just drive right in unnoticed. Sure, I believe that would work just fine.

-When they're building the second ship you hear an audio montage of technical talk, to convince you that they're, well, doing technical stuff. They slip in an overly-obvious "Oxygen could last three times longer than needed. But let's not put that to the test." Smooth, writers Polish! Then, in the event, Farmer stays up in orbit *way* more than three times the planned amount, and does just fine.

• Virginia Madsen (who overacts in the film, BTW) brings home money from the bank to build the second rocket, apparently in cash, in a paper bag, like she stole it. And in the span of one gesture, the light switches from midday to sunset, something you can't avoid noticing. Why didn't they fix that?

-Tell me that crash wouldn't have killed Farmer really, really, dead, no matter how good his capsule protection was.

• I'm tired of films with a technical aspect making tons of gross errors that would bother an average 8th grade science student. Why the writers don't consult an 8th grade science student to patch that up is beyond me, but I'd bet that if I were to point the errors out to them, they'd say something like "This isn't a film about science. It's a film about how 'Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream '" (which is an actual Bush quote, not a typo.) Well, it can be about families and dreams and *still* not yank people out of their suspension of disbelief.

• Tom

I just came back from an advanced screening of this film in Toronto and I really did not know what to expect. I had a free coupon for it and really had no idea what the film was about. Although being skeptical at first I must say that this is an amazing film. It's humorous, it's engaging, and in general a real feel-good movie, with solid performances by everyone including the child-actors. Even though the story may seem outrageous and unrealistic, the emotions evoked are completely genuine and make this film one of the greatest surprises for me this year. I definitely recommend this film for everyone as it demonstrates how dreams define who we are and should never die.

It's clear a lot of critics don't know what to make of this movie. It's best described as mostly a fantasy with naturalistic elements. The emotions are real, they are strong, and the film is always grounded in the earth. But you are never quite sure where it is going. It will veer into farce, then melodrama, then social commentary, and back again. It seems to be taking place in the present day, yet not quite: the sensibilities are from the 60s, the entrepreneurial we-can-do-it spirit from the 80s, and the despair from the 00s. It is strange, and it is dreamlike, and at times it seems to barely make sense, but it all works. The audience I was with was enthralled and almost all of them stayed through the end of the credits -- a good sign indeed.

I can imagine what the high-concept presentation must have been like: "It's just your typical save-the-farm family drama, only dad is a . . ."

"Don't tell me. A space alien," yawns the studio-head.

"Well, close, but not quite. He's a former astronaut who may be a nut case, we're never quite sure."

The studio-head is a little more interested. "And he;s planning to blow up the world?"

"No, though a lot of people think he is."

The head of the studio thinks about. "I think I like it. Throw in some cute kids and we've got ourselves a movie."

I'm being cynical, of course, and this is not a cynical movie. There is not a false note in it in fact, the music is perfect, the cinematography is first-rate, the casting is superb (watch for Bruce Dern looking very similar to Doc Brown in the Back to the Future movies). While inspirational, follow your dream movies usually don't work for me, this one does, it has such an amazingly goofy charm that only the stiffest of film critics could resist it (and alas, according to that well-known movie review site, as I write this just under 40% don't get it.) If this movie in not on most 10-best lists at year-end, it is going to be one heck of a year.

I don't know if the film is going to do well. Early box office looks weak, but word- of-mouth may help. See it in a theater now if you are at all hesitant. This one will be remembered.

One final note: something like this story could actually happen in a generation or two, assuming humanity doesn't destroy itself. That spaceship-in-the-barn tale will make a great movie when it does. This story makes a great movie now.

I only considered this because I am a big fan of Billy-Bob. I expected the film to be full of bad science, but I wasn't prepared for the torrent of non-science and anti-science I got. Certainly, filmmakers have licence to take liberties to some extent, but I haven't seen anything this ludicrous since Spielberg had ET making a radio transceiver out of a Speak-and-Spell.

This film is really a venture into nauseatingly Spielbergesque schmaltziness which is guaranteed to make a profit by unfailingly attracting the same gullible folks who gush over the disaster film where the world got destroyed, but fortunately, the boy and his dog were saved.

Launching a rocket from a wooden barn isn't just stupid. The stupidest person on the planet would know that the barn would be incinerated, along with all other buildings on the property. In real rocket launches, the pad is deluged with millions of gallons of water during lift-off to contain the damage to the massive reinforced concrete structure.

Any liquid-fueled rocket must be supported by a gigantic cryogenic plant, which was nowhere in evidence.

Any launch failure resulting in the rocket tipping over would most certainly not culminate in it being launched horizontally, to go skimming along the ground for a few miles. What you would get is a massive fireball at about 10,000 degrees F.

The haphazard re-entry firing results in a landing just a few miles from the launch point. How convenient. NASA could only predict splashdown within a 2000 or so square mile area.

There are so many more, but I would get ill if I went on. This film was made by people who know nothing about science for people who know nothing about science. There are certainly enough of those, going by the proportion of gushing reviews seen here.

I haven't even gone into how those same people don't seem bothered in the least by the fact that Charlie's "dream" is just so selfish and inconsiderate. There's nothing noble about pursuing your dream no matter how much it may damage those around you (literally and figuratively).

There is no way artistic licence can justify portraying science this bad. I believe even Spielberg wouldn't have touched this one, and that's saying something. I give it a 2, only because Billy-Bob managed to get through it without throwing up once.

This movie proves that Hollywood can make great family movies. I just saw an advanced screening of this movie in AZ and must say it was fantastic. The Polish brothers (writers, producers, directors, stars, fathers of stars) and Billy Bob Thornton were in attendance for a Q&A after the film and were quite interesting. They said this movie cost $12 million dollars to make and was done as an independent. The movie shows how a family can come together to accomplish a task and achieve a dream even when the full weight of the Gov. comes against them. No matter which side of the political aisle you are on you will find the timely shots at the government funny. This movie will hit all your emotional buttons. Support the INDEPENDENT film makers! GO SEE THIS MOVIE! By the way the two little girls who star as Billy Bob's kids are the daughters of the Polish bothers.

This is a good and appropriate movie for a family with young children, but dreadfully boring for anyone with some intellectual sophistication to see how passé' the plot and characters are.

The characters are a wishful-thinking bunch. Settled in a down-to-earth ranch out somewhere in Texas, it is a solid marriage where the wife stands by her man, even with all his short-comings. The children are there, and guess what, they are pulled out of public school for a few weeks of "off-school" learning on space aeronautics. They have a dog. They have a gas-guzzling large old pickup truck.

These are the good guys.

The bad guys are employees of the various federal agencies. These are dressed in black, drive black vehicles, and are photographed with the sun in the background so that instead of their faces, we see their shadows. The only good guy in that bunch is an astronaut that hangs around the family holding a bottle of Bud.

Another bad guy is the bank that is foreclosing on the ranch.

Not exactly bad, but not good either, the public school is defined as a place where "what is he going to learn there anyway". So, not much positive on public schooling here.

So, if you want to drive large gas-guzzling vehicles, do not believe in public schools, dislike federal government employees, pawning your ranch to pursue a quixotic mission like launching yourself into space, and have a solid marriage with lots of kids and a dog and no apparent source of income or steady job or whatever and live in a farm remote from the rest of society, then you will like this movie.

All this with the happy feeling-good Hollywood music in the background.

"October Sky" was much better. At least the characters in that movie knew what they were against, and made a real and credible effort and achieved a well-deserved success. In comparison, this movie here was humorous and laughable.

"If we don't have our dreams, we have nothing" Charles Farmer

How do you take an inherently interesting story about a former pilot and astronaut drop out, who launches himself into orbit, and make that story slow, dull, and corny? The Polish brothers (director, writers) achieve that state possibly because the modest $13 million budget is still much more than they ever had and their approach is too reverential to the hero, who by any standards pursues a quixotic goal of launching himself at the risk of jettisoning his family and close friends.

Charles Farmer (Billie Bob Thornton) is determined to achieve his goal in the face of losing his too well ordered and clean farm and his loving, dutiful, and way too accepting wife, Audrey (Virginia Madsen). Thornton, underplaying with that fetching drawl and highly-developed outsider persona, does a credible job of dreaming his impossible dream without appearing unstable or psychotic. Madsen, while always attractive, has such a clichéd part as the long-suffering mate that the character could appear to be even more unrealistic than her husband.

The two young daughters mug for the camera or make too much happy to be credible. Only two characters ring true all the time: Farmer's son, Shephard (Max Thierot), who is cool as a teen mission controller; and an uncredited Bruce Willis, who plays an ex-astronaut friend of Farmer trying to talk him out of a potentially disastrous launch. Everyone else is a caricature, as the film itself is almost a parody of the American dream: It relies on the American tradition of individualism, evenat the expense of those closest to the dreamer. That's an American tragedy.

A ridiculous story? Totally unrealistic? Yeah, you could say that, but who cares? The fact remains it was a fun movie to view.....and not to be taken seriously. Those who did, scoffed and called it stupid. They missed the point.

It's full of ludicrous situations and pontificating that is sometimes just laughable. There is no way this event could happen - a guy building a rocket ship in his backyard enabling him to orbit the Earth, and actually doing it without someone stopping him, and having his 15- year-old as head of "mission control!" And, yes, the portrayals of the government men are Hollywood stereotypes. Yet, despite the stupidity of this story it was very entertaining but more than that - it was a nice film, a feel--good one that made you glad you watched it.

I simply viewed this as pure fiction, akin to something like "Field Of Dreams," and totally enjoyed. It also was fanatically filmed. This is a beautiful-looking movie. Kudos to David Mullen, director of photography.

What a nice family, too! Boy, if all of us could only have such a supporting spouse and great kids like "Charles Farmer" had in this movie. Despite coming with an eyelash of financially ruining his family, his wife sticks with him and his kids all love him greatly and will do anything to help him. Virginia Madsen's plays Charlie's wife "Audie." Outside of one fight, they are seen in a loving manner. Even cranky old Bruce Dern is a good guy in here, playing the grandfather.

The film is filled with surprises, including a big--name actor, Bruce Willis, who makes a small appearance. He looked like he enjoyed himself and I'm most viewers share that if they like a nice, feel-good family, fantasy adventure story. This is good escapism that should leave a smile on your face. Don't dismiss it, or overlook it.

One of the worst movies I've watched in years. I only watched it on a 6-hr flight because Billy Bob T and Bruce W were listed in the cast and I didn't want to strain my eyes by reading a book for the entire 6 hours. Shame on you Billy Bob and Bruce for not turning down the roles after reviewing the incredibly sappy dialog of this script! I should have gone back to my book after seeing the missile in the Texas barn during the first few minutes. But since one knows that the main character can't possibly die before the end of the movie, I felt compelled to watch for a successfullaunch in the overhead monitor while multitasking with a crossword puzzle and other things. This movie sadly lacks the warped humor of Bad Santa, Slingblade,U-Turn, and others....

Billy Bob Thornton stars as the title character, a farmer who wants to go to space but faces resistance wherever he goes except for his family and even they sometimes have doubts. Virginia Madsen plays his mostly supportive wife. Tim Blake Nelson plays his lawyer. Bruce Dern plays the grandpa. J. K. Simmons plays the FAA head who tries to stop Thornton. Kiersten Warren (who you may have recognized as Nora on "Desperate Housewives") is Madsen's fellow waitress. And a Big Movie Star appears as a former astronaut who tries to talk Thornton out of his dreams (sorry, you have to watch the movie to see who it is). There's lots of Capra-corn inspiration and drama that should make believers out of anyone who still have dreams he or she would love to come true. On that note, I highly recommend this movie, The Astronaut Farmer, to every family member out there!

Since more than half the viewers here at IMDb actually found this movie enjoyable or even inspirational, I am seriously considering going into the script-writing business. Since my disbelief was suspended so long while watching this movie, it actually died on me in the process, leaving me totally open to any story coming from the beautiful country, studios and computers in Hollywood. I therefore will have no qualms submitting exciting new ideas, like BB Thornton building an actual nuclear reactor on his farmland, in an effort to 'save' the world from global warming. Of course his adorable wife & kids help him along the way, and maybe Bruce Willis can join to save the day when the reactor threatens to blow up due to the interference of federal authorities.

And, of course, there will be a sequel to this movie where BB (or his son...) builds an even bigger rocket to take the whole family to the moon & start a new life there, far away from federal hassling. Of course, there will be plenty of setbacks along the way, but hey - what would life be without a Dream? (well...just life, perhaps?) Imagine the closing shot: the Farmer family standing beside their newly erected moon-dwelling, looking up at the beautiful blue earth in the sky. Ma saying: thank god we got away from there! Now we can live in your dream, Charles! (violin music swelling)

Hollywood here I come!

I've heard of "suspension of disbelief" before, but this is ridiculous! "The Astronaut Farmer" features one of the loopiest, looniest premises ever to grace a mainstream American movie. A middle-aged rancher named Farmer (you know a movie's heading into seriously pretentious waters when it starts dispensing heavily allegorical names to its characters), has decided to fulfill his lifelong dream of flying into outer space. To this end, he has single-handedly constructed a fully functioning rocket that, in the real world, would require an army of NASA engineers and millions of dollars in government money to put together. Heck, for sheer grandiosity and technological ingenuity, Farmer's homemade rocket makes Ray Kinsella's backyard baseball stadium look like erector-set kids' stuff in comparison.

In a film shamelessly bucking for the "feel-good movie of the year" stamp-of-approval, Farmer is obviously intended to be an inspirational figure, a little man with a Big Dream who is determined to make that dream come true at any and all costs and despite the seemingly insurmountable odds stacked against him. Yet, even in a fantasy film, the dream has to have some connection with reality, some degree of plausibility to make us believe in it to the same extent that the character does. Unfortunately, in "The Astronaut Farmer," we find ourselves more often siding with the derisive skeptics and cynical killjoys from NASA, the FBI, and the nearby town - who, of course, are portrayed as the villains of the piece - than with Farmer and his preposterously supportive family who already seem to be living on another planet anyway (which tends to negate the need for any such trip in the first place).

Indeed, questions of mental balance are never far from our minds when we see Farmer (well played by Billy Bob Thornton) bankrupting his ranch to finance his quest and dragging his 15-year-old son and two pre-pubescent daughters out of school so that they can function as his Mission Control team of "experts," who are going to be responsible for not only launching him into space but returning him safely back therefrom (not too much undue pressure there, eh?). And what are we to make of the fact that Farmer is so obsessed with fulfilling his own dream that he's willing to go on this potential suicide mission with the distinct possibility that he will leave his wife a widow and his children without a father? In his reckless disregard for the consequences of his actions, Farmer goes well beyond the harmless Quixotic crackpot that the script intends him to be and becomes a genuine threat to the lives and safety of himself and those around him. Even his wife (Virginia Madsen), who is portrayed as a relatively clear-thinking, level-headed pragmatist, is really little more than an enabler who, instead of putting the brakes on her husband's obvious foolishness, encourages him to ever more dangerous heights of certifiable insanity.

The actors - Thornton, Madsen, Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, Max Thieriot - do what they can with what they've been handed, but the screenplay by Mark and Michael Polish is so filled with sappy, a-guy's-gotta-dream inspirational speeches and cued-up musical crescendos that we feel worked-over and manipulated from first moment to last. The movie does look terrific, however, with director Michael Polish and cinematographer M. David Mullen using the wide open spaces of the rural western landscape to impressive effect.

I know that we're not supposed to take this movie all that seriously, that we are expected to check our credulity at the theater door for the duration of the movie, then pick it up on the way back out. But even a fantasy film has to make some sort of reasonable compact with its audience and "The Astronaut Farmer" asks us to accept far too much on sheer goodwill and faith alone. Yet, you know a movie isn't working when, instead of rooting for the protagonist to succeed in his adventure, you find yourself hoping that some trained, licensed professional will step in and perform an intervention on him before he does serious injury to himself and his loved ones.

I have been a great admirer of the Polish Brothers' work in the past - "Twin Falls Idaho," "Northfork" etc. - but "The Astronaut Farmer" is a fool's mission that should never even have been brought to the launching pad, let alone cleared for take-off.

This is a story of man with a huge ego. He wants to launch a giant rocket into the air with himself in it so he can....I don't know, brag? He treats his family terrible. Rather than letting this be a family dream, he takes it upon himself to do this alone. He ignores the stress he puts his family through, and pretty much tries to destroy them financially. The government has good reason to stop him, but they are portrayed as people trying to keep the man down. Even when events transpire that prove the government correct, where he could've potentially killed people it's treated like almost nothing.

The moral of this story is that you should put yourself at risk, ignore your family to the extent of ruining them financially and emotionally crippling them, and do things that could potentially kill your neighbors in the pursuit of your 'dreams'.

I went last night and loved the show. I am not a big Billy Bob fan but he did an outstanding job. My 6 y/o daughter and 10 y/o boys loved the show. Yes Bruce Willis is in the show and ironically played an astronaut. Flash back to Armageddon. The audience cheered and clapped several times during the show and at the end. Stay put for the credits they are part of the show. The show does drag at times but the story keeps your attention. I would recommend this one. The story line about the FAA and NASA not wanting to allow this farmer to launch is so plausible. Can you imagine if some guy can build a viable rocket for about $200,000 and fly in space. The budget of those agencies would be ripped to shreds by the public. Even at the end the FAA tried to deny to the public that the flight ever happened.

I received free passes to an advance screening of Astronaut Farmer and figured, "what the hell, free movie in advance. I'll take it." I proceeded to the theater, which was packed with children and adults of all ages. I settled into my seat and let the magic begin.

Astronaut Farmer is the story of Charles Farmer (Billy Bob Thorton), a man who used to work for the military, but was forced to retire to save his family farm. He dreams about going into the inky blackness of space, a place he has aspired to reach for a long time. So he sets out building a rocket in his backyard, which soon draws the attention of NASA, FAA, FBI, CIA, and the press.

When you go into Astronaut Farmer, be prepared to throw the laws of physics and logic out the window, as this one tries to be real, but suffers from a few flaws. First, the rocket is built in Billy's garage, which is made of timber. Timber would incinerate immediately on take off. Good idea? NO! The movie also pulls out the cliché handbook and takes an example from every chapter. The looming bad guys, the goofy sidekicks, the bank's foreclosures, the family tension, failing now and succeeding later, and poor jokes. The movie is entertaining enough, but there's something wrong with a movie that's 100 minutes and feels like 2+ hours.

Would I have purchased tickets to see this? No, but I probably would rent it on DVD. It is a good film for the family though, so on that level I'd say see it (the movie is rated PG). Or just wait until it comes to DVD and rent it for the family then. Fun movie, but only worthwhile in a family environment.

I saw this movie and was very disappointed. I must confess that when I went to see it it was as a last resort and wish I hadn't seen it. The movie was a very depressing one when you think of the expense and disasters that this man put his family through and the headaches he causes to pursuit a "dream" which is nothing more than bankrupting his family and sending them to the edge of sanity. Add to that this man cares nothing about bringing the government to his home and totally thinks of himself when confronted with the possibility that his family will be taken away from him and he locked up in the, excuse the pun, funny farm. Also he pursuits this goal, not out a pure desire to see space or to open it up for many people. It is simply for himself and trying to get rid of guilt over leaving NASA and his father's committing suicide. Again this did not inspire me but rather depressed me. There is no grand Americana and there is no ground swell of support it is simply a man against the world which does nothing to bring people to his aid. In moment he threatens murder, this is not the kind of inspired leadership that would hope for or expect. If you want to make yourself feel terrible, feel angry at the world and your family, and basically burn money for no good reason then go see this movie.

The Astronaut Farmer At first glance, it might seem as though the twin film-making brothers Michael and Mark Polish (both write, while Michael directs and Mark acts) have scuttled their inclination toward oddball delights as seen in their previous films, Twin Falls Idaho, Jackpot, and Northfork. True, there are only upright Americans in The Astronaut Farmer and none of the conjoined twins, professional karaoke singers, or wandering angels here that populated their earlier work. Yet, even though the Polishes' purview has downshifted from damaged exotics to grassroots individuals, their perspective remains refreshingly skewed toward the unusual and uncommon. The Astronaut Farmer could almost be a relic from the golden age of Hollywood, an inspirational drama about staying true to one's hopes and ideals no matter the social, economic, or emotional cost. "If we don't have our dreams, we have nothing," goes the story's underlying refrain – a mantra that might sound like pure cheese were it not delivered with such note-perfect gravity by Thornton, who stars as Charlie Farmer. A former astronaut, Charlie quit NASA's program when tragedy struck on his family's farm back in Texas (New Mexico filled in for Texas during the shoot). However, having always wanted to go into space, Charlie has taken his can-do spirit and built a rocket ship in an empty grain silo on his property. With his 15-year-old son, Shepherd (Theriot), as his one-man ground-control operation, Charlie eventually blasts off, much to the government's chagrin. The feds don't seem to want anyone with a modified John Deere and contraband rocket fuel to steal their thunder. Plus, the anxieties dredged up by our modern age of terrorism lend an extra edge of suspicion and confrontation to the government's interference in Charlie's affairs. Although The Astronaut Farmer feels something like a throwback to a gentler time, what makes the film work is its utter sincerity and perfect command of the overall tone. Madsen, as Charlie's wife Audie, is equally disarming as the emotional ballast that keeps Charlie and their family afloat. The actors all achieve a certain ingenuous tone that helps sell the movie. It matters little that we have no idea of things like how the farm survives when nobody seems to be working it or why no one balks when Charlie pulls the children out of school to help him with his project. Shot in stunning widescreen by the Polishes' longtime cinematographer, M. David Mullen, Audie and the others are frequently backlighted to achieve that certain heavenly glow. And Willis turns up as a fellow astronaut in an unbilled role that provides the movie with some bomber-jacket cachet. Fans of the Polish brothers and fans of inspirational movies may all depart the theatre scratching their heads: The Astronaut Farmer is not exactly the movie any of these viewers expected to see. This is almost always a good thing – even if the movie is a deserved head-scratcher.

AUSTIN CHRONICLE Marjorie Baumgarten [2007-02-23]

..and no kidding about that. I do not care that it technically was a financial flop. Some movies are just too good, and I truly mean that, to strike a universal chord with the general public. This is one of them.

Strikingly shot, the entire movie glows visually, helped by the starkly desolate beauty of New Mexico. Yes, it is preposterous, per the premise that one can build a functional rocket in ones' barn, but if we discounted movies with far fetched plots, at least half would qualify, including such greats as "Wizard of Oz" and any based on fantasy, let alone sci-fi.

The movie itself is so heartwarming, a family movie without the cloyingness of most family movies. Simply put, the faith/love of a family backing up the Don Quitote dream of a tinkerer father, in this case a tinkerer who builds rockets in his yard, planning to create his own manned mission into space.

I truly think the movie was perfect in every sense, from the screen writing to the acting to the verisimilitude of the media coverage, including the great Jay Leno interviews. Just a wonderful little masterpiece, that hopefully will find the attention it deserves on video one day, ala the way Shawshank Redemption was "redeemed"!

A true pleasure to watch this. One of the most heartwarming pictures I've ever seen. Precious....truly...

boring, what else i can say .. well maybe boring again? the plot is intriguing but.. that's it .. a lot off bla bla about a guy that want to fly a rocket. a little drama here, a little drama there. i did like the fact that US officials are made bigots, @%#^ heads and so on, because sometimes they are. There always is a bigger plan that sweep under the carpet the little guy and his dreams. Bruce Dern was like a paralytic or something.. literally he can fall apart in some scenes. Thorthon was OK, but i think that he can fit in the jack ass role much easier and can play a lot better. Damn boring.. i almost fall to sleep during this movie..

***WARNING THIS PIECE CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!***** I didn't expect this film to be technically text book accurate in all aspects of spaceflight. I just didn't expect them to throw the book away entirely. This was disappointing. First of all I have never heard of any Atlas rocket launch failure resulting in it's careening across country side ways. EVER! This was so pathetic and was not funny to me on any level. Also why did he build the rocket so close to his house? He should have put it as far away as he possible could from his and other people's houses just for safety reasons alone. He totally put his family in danger with his bone headed self launch. Why didn't he use the launch escape tower that was right there on top of his spacecraft? This was a launch failure, that is what the launch escape tower was designed to do. Pull you away from an exploding or otherwise out of control rocket like he had. This proved to me that he did not belong inside any spacecraft. When his systems failed in orbit, he came across as an idiot who did not know what he was doing. I did not see a steely eyed missile man swinging into action. I saw an inept farmer astronaut wanna be whining for his son to come and save him. He built that spacecraft every nut and bolt. He should have been shown confidently swinging into action. Now he finally did fix the problem, but that was after an eternity of dumb contemplation as to what to do. Where were the simulations? This movie meant well, but I am sorry to have to say it. In my humble opinion, the Astronaut farmer is a launch disaster. I do however completely support the idea of civilian like him pursuing space. But if you are going to bother to make a movie, at least make an attempt to make it some what believable.