Gravity is a must see

It’s an ambitious idea that immediately stands out because most film fans will not believe that something so simple yet effective was given the green light by the same Hollywood types who more regularly throw budget at the brash, in-your-face tosh that makes up most of each week’s release list.

Sandra Bullock and George Clooney do exceptionally well in their roles, but the lion’s share of the credit must go to writer and director Alfonso Cuaron (Children Of Men), who makes the whole piece – remember, this is a story unfolding in a noiseless, airless vacuum – completely hypnotic. He does this by, among other things, making creative use of silence and the passing of time.

A microcosm that underlines how effective his ideas are is the film’s opening sequence, which features the Earth spinning far below as – slowly and with purpose – the piece’s protagonists drift into view. It’s mesmerising, exciting filmmaking that, when watched in a dark cinema with powerful surround sound, reminds you why movies are so often described using the word “magic”.

The script is as strong as the visuals, bar one short monologue that might have escaped from Armageddon and ideally should have stayed there. Clooney is wonderful, but he’s playing to type, hardly extending himself as a charming, brave misson commander. Bullock is much better here than she was in The Blind Side, for which she won an Oscar, but there are no PC causes on which to hang a nomination this time…

There is action, humour, pathos and more as this atmospheric (inaccurate pun intended) space adventure plays out. See it.