<em>'October Sky'</em> got me in the feels. I tend to (unintentionally) be a bit of a hardnose when it comes to fiction (even if a biopic) making an impact, but it does occasionally happen and this is one of those times. Weirdly too, because it is cheesy/cliché/whatever, but it worked tremendously for me. I felt my heartstrings tug a fair number of times throughout, culminating with those lovely final few scenes; I was actually welling up, would you believe? Any longer and tears may have been shed <i>*shudder*</i>. I've basically only seen one movie this last month - what has the break done to me?! Humour aside, I did love this though. I've said it before, but to be honest if you give me what I consider to be great cast performances then I'm practically sold on the film upon that coming to fruition. Jake Gyllenhaal is terrific (this still doesn't surpass <em>'Source Code'</em>, mind) as lead. Chris Cooper is ace, as are Laura Dern and Natalie Canerday. Chris Owen (Sherminator!), Chad Lindberg (Jesse!) and William Lee Scott (eh... well, Roy Lee as of now!) are good supports to Gyllenhaal as well. Even the likes of Elya Baskin and Randy Stripling add needed small bits. The music is good too, especially towards the end; early on it kinda goes with what I said about the flick being a tad cheesy and/or cliché. I would describe the movie as that to be frank, but that is more endearing than anything else. I'm fine with those things if it works, which it pleasantly does here. Joe Johnston really went back-to-back with this and <em>'Jumanji'</em>. Impressive!
The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.
Quick Stats
7.7
TMDB Rating
1,496
Votes
1h 47m
Runtime
$25.0M
Budget
$34.7M
Box Office
139%
Return
Key Crew
DirectorJoe Johnston
WriterLewis Colick
CinematographyFred Murphy
ComposerMark Isham
EditorRobert Dalva
Production DesignChris L. Spellman
Produced by
Universal Pictures
Where to Watch
Rent
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Critics & Reviews
1 featuredCast

Jake Gyllenhaal
Homer Hickam

Chris Cooper
John Hickam

Chris Owen
Quentin Wilson

Laura Dern
Miss Riley

William Lee Scott
Roy Lee

Chad Lindberg
O'Dell

Natalie Canerday
Elsie Hickam

Elya Baskin
Ike Bykovsky

Chris Ellis
Principal Turner

Scott Thomas
Jim Hickam
R
Randy Stripling
Leon Bolden
C
Courtney Cole-Fendley
Dorothy Platt

David Dwyer
Jake Mosby

Terry Loughlin
Mr. Dantzler

Kaili Hollister
Valentine Carmina







