October Sky - Pursue Your Dreams

                          "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."(Walt Disney). We all have our own dreams. But in order to make our dreams, a reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort. Everyone of us have a dream to achieve something. We have some kind of talent for doing great things. But, most of our dreams are crunched by something, either by our education system or by our own doubt in following the dream. 

                        In the movie 'October Sky', we come across a young man's dreams, and his quest to make the dream as his destiny. The story is based on real events, about Homer Hickam, a West Virginia teenager who dreamed of becoming a NASA science engineer.

Plot

    The movie opens in October 1957 when, like the rest of America, Homer(Jake Gyllenhaal) takes notice that the Soviets successfully launch the Sputnik satellite. However, unlike the rest of his small town, he uses it as inspiration to make something more of his life. Together with his two best friends, Roy Lee (William Lee Scott) and O'Dell (Chad Lindberg), and the high school math whiz, Quentin (Chris Owen), Homer begins designing model rockets to shoot into the sky. Building the rockets out of spare parts in Homer's basement and enlisting the help of some of the machine workers at the local mine, the four boys make gradual progress. 

 

 

                       Numerous attempts send rockets careening out of control, most of which eventually explode. But, when the four boys discover the secret to success, they become local celebrities. They are given support by their school teacher, Miss Riley (Laura Dern), who sees their rocket-building as an opportunity to enter the state science fair and possibly win scholarships to college, thus taking them away from their predetermined life in the coal mines.

Analysis

             Pursuing one's dream. This is the kind of story, you might have heard or seen in many movies of Hollywood. So, what makes this movie, different and great? The most compelling is the multi-faceted, complex relationship between Homer and his father, John (Chris Cooper). This isn't the kind of one-dimensional interaction we have come to expect from movie fathers and sons; it's characterized on both sides by anger, jealousy, resentment, bitterness, respect, pride, and love. They both react in a convincing way,  not in a dramatic manner. 

 

 

                  Jake Gyllenhaal's performance, makes us  easily rally behind his dream. Every time one of his missiles sears into the sky, the audience feels the same rush he feels. Cooper, is saddled with a tough role of playing the father. His character is a man who obviously shows favoritism toward Homer's football-playing older brother, Jim. However, there is something in Cooper's eyes that gives the character an extra dimension; a small spark that lets us know he is only stubborn, not cruel. 

 

                Everyone in the supporting cast contributes to the story, some with small sub-plots of their own. Directed by Joe Johnston, the movie breathes with this kind of gifted and timeless film-making. He keeps the drama smartly pinned to family life. He knows how to be subtle. And there's no villain, really, just a series of bad circumstances: mine cave-ins, union turmoil, economic depression. 

 

 

                   In terms of film-making, it is flawless and brilliant in execution. But more than that, it proves that a movie can be 100 percent traditional and still be fresh and exciting. The story line has traditionally been the territory of the sports movie, but 'October Sky' inserts the brain-oriented rocket science. So, like most of the feel-good movies, the main character doesn't win the big game, he simply succeeds in his life, despite many obstacles. That makes us easily connected with the movie. 

               Watch "October Sky" as an inspiration, to pursue your dreams.

Trailer

October Sky - Imdb