Emerging from the trenches of independent filmmaking, twin brothers Mark and Michael Polish now face the killing fields of mainstream Hollywood cinema.
Billy Bob Thornton is joined in the cast of “”Astronaut Farmer”” by the directors’ daughters, Jasper and Logan.
“”We filmed ‘Astronaut Farmer’ under Warner Brothers’ indie label, so it’s definitely still an indie film,”” one of the indiscernible brothers said. “”But once they saw it they thought it had the marketing potential of a feature film, and attached the full Warner label.””
Their budget — just under $13 million — was a healthy serving for newbies, but they said the more than $12-million upgrade since their last film, “”Jackpot,”” didn’t feel much different. “”Sure, we had a bigger crew and a nice big rocket to play in, but it doesn’t make our job any easier or harder.””
Now that their latest project is set for a national debut, the Polish brothers face the altar of a fickle industry with libations and crossed fingers, but may soon find themselves, and their hopeful careers, sacrificial meat when actual box office sales face off with estimates. The oversaturated American audience has a discerning eye for cliche, and “”Astronaut Farmer”” is far from unpredictable.
The film is about an all-American dad with an all-American dream — not a pie-in-the-sky, “”if only”” kind of dream, but an “”empty your family’s nest egg on a black-market purchase of 10,000 gallons of high grade rocket fuel”” kind of dream. Billy Bob Thornton plays Farmer — yes, that’s his name — an ex-NASA astronaut willing to sacrifice everything, even his life, to launch the Mercury rocket he built in his barn. (Never mind that the burning rocket fuel would have incinerated his barn, his house, his family and even the nearby free-range cattle.)
In a laughably heroic effort to lift his dream off the ground, Farmer’s wife Audie (Virginia Madsen) is all-supportive. Even the kids lend a hand: Max Thieriot plays Shepard Farmer, the 15-year-old mission controller, and the Polish brothers’ two adorable daughters play Stanley and Sunshine, who don’t raise much of a fuss either. “”We cast them out of necessity,”” the brothers said, laughing. “”It’s amazing how difficult it is working with child actors. So many restraints.””
With two powerful stars in the leading roles, and a cameo by Bruce Willis, “”Astronaut Farmer”” has a hopeful Hollywood face — too Hollywood. With an across-the-board washout of hackneyed dialogue and cheesy action, the film ends up in a pile of obnoxious self-aggrandizement.
Not to say the intentions of the film’s cast and crew were anything but pure. “”We hope this film inspires everyone to find their own rocket, their own dream and follow it,”” Madsen said. By her account, everyone involved with the film felt the positive effects of such an uplifting story. I’d pardon the pun, but that’s half the fun of the movie. Floating gracefully in weightless space, sitting rapturously in the rocket he named “”The Dreamer,”” and eating marshmallows from his daughter’s favorite cereal, Farmer delivers the tell-all line of the film, at once endearing and irretrievably shtick: “”This is where dreams live.””
