October Sky
When my grandfather and I took in Joe Johnston’s “October Sky” in 1999, I really kind of loved the movie, but I’m not sure if I could have identified why I was taken with it. While this rewatch did not necessarily shed any light on what my feelings were based on 20 years ago, I do know why I feel the same way now. This is a sincere and earnest drama that is “based on a true story,” but at the heart of it is a dilemma that resonates deeply with me now, and has for most of my adult life.
The film tells the true story- with embellishments, of course- of Homer Hickam (Jake Ghyllenhaal), the second son of John Hickam (Chris Cooper), the foreman of a West Virginia town’s coal mine, who seems to be on the path of becoming who his father is during the 1950s. One night, Russia’s Sputnik 1 is launched into the sky, and the sight of it overhead inspires something in Homer. Suddenly, he has this idea of a world outside of Coalwood, West Virginia, and he and math geek Quentin Wilson (Chris Owen), as well as friends Roy Lee Cooke and Sherman O’Dell, start to build small rockets, with the support of their science teacher, Miss Riley (Laura Dern). But the pull to follow in his father’s footsteps is strong, and it is a conflict he faces when his rockets capture the imagination of the town, and he is encouraged to enroll in the county science fair.
I say “conflict” in the last paragraph, and it brings me to one of the reasons this movie is so good- there’s no “good guy vs. bad guy” manufactured drama here. Any tension that exists in the film stems from the fact that Homer is looking at a future beyond the only ones afforded young men in Coalwood- get out on a football scholarship (which he doesn’t have the talent for) or go work in the mine, which is what his father, naturally wants for him. Going off to study the sciences is not something the authority figures in the town- whether it’s his father or the school’s principal (Chris Ellis)- look on as worthy for a young man like Homer. That pull is strong, though, and he does find sympathetic adults in Miss Riley and a couple of the mine workers who can help him in building his rockets, and making them better. His father is the one who is unrelenting, though, and this was the first time I noticed Chris Cooper in a film, and he is terrific in the movie as someone who knows his place, sees the nobility in what his life is, and just wants a good life for his son with a steady paycheck. The mine hasn’t been producing like it once was, however, and he’s not unaware of the health and safety risks involved in his work; he just cannot see a life outside of it for his family, unless it’s the football scholarship Homer’s older brother, Jim, gets. He’s very much a stereotypical movie dad, who seems to love his work more than his son, but honestly, it’s a stereotype because of how honest it is to reality; he reminded me a lot of my dad, as well.
I don’t know that I genuinely related to “October Sky” the way I did in this rewatch back in 1999, but it’s entirely possible that, at the time, I had seen some of myself in Homer. My parents and grandparents all had very typical lives and careers that they went into and were interested in, especially my father and grandfather. I took a different path, and was studying music at Georgia State University. At the time, I was aiming for something like a sound recording career, or, ideally, a life as a film composer. Needless to say, this type of career is not as traditional as the electrical engineering work my father did, and there was a lot of skepticism. That skepticism is not unfounded, and when I graduated, finding work in those careers was difficult, and I had to go in a different route. I still had support, though, and like Homer, people who could encourage me in my pursuits, with my grandfather- the one I saw “October Sky” with back in 1999- being one of them. That’s important when you realize something about yourself, that puts you out of step with those around you, and this film nails that perfectly, with Ghyllenhaal being engagingly sincere in his performance as Homer (although he would certainly get more interesting as he got older, and took more chances, as a performer). Johnston (“The Rocketeer,” “Captain America: The First Avenger”) has just the right sensibility and appreciation for period to be the one to bring this story to life, and he pushes every button one needs to push for this movie to land with audiences. It certainly landed with me; now, I have a better understanding as to why that was the case.
