Eastwood’s movie, written by Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner, throws in an old bureaucratic nemesis (James Cromwell) to oversee our heroes; cranks up the pathos by giving Jones both a love interest (Marcia Gay Harden) and inoperable cancer, and waits until our boys are in deep space to spring some dubious last-minute surprises. These strained plot contortions aren’t really necessary: the funny, amiable heart of the movie is in the scenes of these tough old duffers scamming their way through the training program. The movie itself, like these guys, is defiantly old school–confident, relaxed, professional. These four stars, with more than 260 years of experience among them, know how to get the job done.
Space CowboysWarner Bros. Open
