By Brandon Nolta

It’s one thing to get Bruce Dern and Billy Bob Thornton — two of the best actors in the game when it comes to playing unrepentant jackasses — in the same movie together; that’s a coup right there. To get them both playing warm, sympathetic characters, however, is a sign of the Apocalypse. It’s like water running uphill; it just doesn’t happen. But, the Polish brothers pulled it off, and made a pretty damn good movie to boot.

Unlike many filmmakers who have trod in Capraesque fields, Mark and Michael Polish understand that wholesome doesn’t have to mean sappy, and uplifting films don’t all have to be about sports. THE ASTRONAUT FARMER is, outside of Pixar’s body of work and a few notable exceptions, one of the few mainstream films in the last few years that gets that. Thornton plays Charles Farmer, a former aeronautical engineer and fighter jockey who bowed out of astronaut training when his father died so he could go home and run the family farm.

Dreams of flying into space, however, are stronger than that for Charles, who has the loving and steadfast support of his wife, Audie (Virginia Madsen), and his three kids. To that end, he’s built a rocket in his barn, which makes him just another colorful character in his Texas hometown — that is, until he tries to buy 10,000 pounds of high-grade fuel for his rocket. Now, the Feds want to get to know Charlie and his plans; typified by a cynical FBI agent (Jon Gries) and the officious head of the FAA (J.K. Simmons).

Realistic? Maybe not, although it’s worth pointing out that on average, you can buy musical greeting cards that have more computing power and complexity than what NASA used on the Apollo missions.

This film beautifully captures the joy of having a dream, and the combination of disappointment and relief that dreamers face when they have give it up. This involves an order of complexity greater than that of most so-called “family” films, and it’s a welcome relief to find a film that keeps the interest of innocent kids and cynical adults alike.

The Polish brothers deserve a good chunk of credit for this. Their thoughtful, warm screenplay gives the actors room to breathe life into these sharply-drawn characters. Thornton and Madsen are the stars, and they earn it at every step. Thornton, in particular, completely erases any trace of “Bad Santa” with his gentle portrayal of a man so in touch with his dreams that his family will follow him everywhere. The rest of the cast does well, though old favorites like Marshall Bell and Tim Blake Nelson don’t get nearly enough screen time. Personally, I hoped J.K. Simmons would draw a little more J. Jonah Jameson into his role, but you can’t have it all.
 
Special features? Not so much, although it’s a pretty good release for a movie that wasn’t a big project. The disc comes with widescreen and fullscreen presentations, one per side (I haven’t seen that in a while). The picture quality is great, with a 5.1 mix that comes in handy during the launch sequences, and a sprinkling of additional features: the usual “Making of” puff piece, a talk with NASA astronaut David Scott, and a collection of outtakes and bloopers that aren’t too bad.

Thornton is a funny guy, especially when he talks dirty in character as Karl from SLING BLADE. The point is, lack of features aside, THE ASTRONAUT FARMER is a damn good movie that you can watch with the kids without being condescended to, and that’s a rare gift from Hollywood.