Review: ‘Project Hail Mary’ borders on miraculous

At the start of “Project Hail Mary,” Ryan Gosling wakes up aboard a spaceship bound for parts unknown, with no memory of how he got there. After discerning that he’s traveled beyond the confines of our solar system and all his shipmates are dead, he breaks into the ship’s ample supply of vodka and drinks himself into a stupor.

Sounds like a laugh riot, right?

In the hands of co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, it is. “Project Hail Mary” is the type of movie that theaters have been lacking for quite some time: A heady sci-fi saga and an irreverent buddy comedy, stuffed with hijinks that keep the film moving at the speed of light. (Until it doesn’t, anyway. More on that later.)

Through a series of flashbacks, we learn that Gosling’s amnesiac astronaut is a middle school science teacher named Ryland Grace, who stepped away from being a top-level biologist after publishing a paper that made him a laughingstock in the scientific community. His paper’s assertions suddenly seem more credible, however, when microscopic alien organisms known as Astrophage are discovered feeding (and breeding) off the sun’s energy, plunging the Earth into an extinction-level crisis.

The full scope of how Grace ended up alone in deep space is slowly revealed throughout the film, but the why is that Astrophage has begun dimming every nearby star except for one: Tau Ceti, a real star approximately 12 light years away from Earth.

Lord and Miller adapted “Project Hail Mary” from the novel of the same name by “The Martian” author Andy Weir, and it shows. Much like Matt Damon’s stranded astronaut Mark Watney, Gosling’s Grace keeps us entertained via self-shot video updates being sent to no one, wryly narrating both his occasional moments of brilliance and his near-constant self-doubt in being chosen as humanity’s last hope. 

“Project Hail Mary” really takes off when Grace discovers he’s not the only scientist orbiting Tau Ceti in search of answers. Also on a mission to save his planet is a pint-sized, faceless alien who resembles a many-legged, anthropomorphic Stonehenge. After making contact and rigging up a crude translation device, Grace and the alien (dubbed “Rocky”) settle into a buddy comedy rhythm as they work together to save their respective species.

Rocky is, in a word, adorable. A mix of practical and digital effects, the creature, voiced by puppeteer James Ortiz, would fit right in with Jim Henson’s creations. When Rocky decides to move into Grace’s ship — a feat made possible by what is effectively a temperature-controlled hamster ball — he crashes around the ship like E.T. hunting for Reese’s Pieces. (An earlier homage to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” reinforces Spielberg’s influence on the story.) 

Lord and Miller — the duo behind “The Lego Movie,” “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” and the “21 Jump Street” remake — are some of the most naturally funny filmmakers currently working. Where Ridley Scott’s “The Martian” is a sci-fi drama with occasional moments of levity, “Project Hail Mary” is more like an intergalactic “The Odd Couple,” or “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” on a cosmic scale. 

That tone is perfect for Gosling, who cements his status here as one of Hollywood’s most versatile leading men. Even with his movie-star looks, he’s believable as a scientist who refuses to believe in himself. It’s a twitchy, scream-filled performance that calls to mind his role in “The Nice Guys,” one of the most undersung comedies of the past decade.

Rocky isn’t Grace’s only comic foil, either. Back on flashback Earth, the stone-faced Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller, “Anatomy of a Fall”), who recruits Grace for the Hail Mary project, stoically deals with his low self-esteem and regular freakouts, as does Carl (Lionel Boyce, “The Bear”), a security guard assigned to keep Grace on task.

All told, The first 70 percent of “Project Hail Mary” ranks among the most broadly entertaining blockbusters in recent memory. That’s why it’s so disappointing when the film loses its way when trying to land the proverbial ship. Lord and Miller are frustratingly faithful to Weir’s source material, which means slogging through a series of false endings and saccharine, emotionally manipulative scenes. The better choice would have been lopping a half hour off the film’s 156-minute runtime.

Nevertheless, if you can mentally prepare yourself for a dramatic downshift in tone, “Project Hail Mary” is well worth a trip to the theaters. It’s a rollicking adventure that offers something for moviegoers of almost any age, anchored by a star turn from Gosling and a puppet that is out of this world.

Rating: *** (out of 4)

“Project Hail Mary” will be released in theaters March 20.