Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood

Year:  2022

Director:  Richard Linklater

Screenplay:  Richard Linklater

Starring:  Milo Coy, Glen Powell, Zachary Levi, Jack Black

Running Time:  98 minutes

Genre: Coming-of-age, animation

Houston, 1969:  Nine year old Stan (Coy) lives with his family near the NASA complex, and, like everyone else, is fascinated by the impending Apollo 11 Moon launch.  As lift off approaches, Stan imagines himself as an astronaut travelling to the Moon.

Loosely based on the childhood of writer, director and producer Richard Linklater, the film interweaves a warmly nostalgic look at being a child in 1969 with a fictional story of a nine year old boy who is persuaded by NASA to be the actual first person on the Moon, because they made the space capsule too small for an adult.  Narrated by Jack Black as an adult Stan looking back, the film is at it's best in it's look at Stan's daily life in 1969 and the hype surrounding the Moon landing, which is ever present.  Stan's family live in the shadow of NASA, and his Dad works on the Apollo 11 mission, and most of Stran's friend's parents work at NASA at some capacity.  It does acknowledge some of the troubles in America at the time: protests, assassinations, riots and the constant presence of the Vietnam war.  It also touches on the fact that the Moon landings were controversial, a lot of people thought that it was a waste of money that could be better spent elsewhere.  Also there is the fact that Stan's world is quite dangerous.  There is frequent corporal punishment, from teachers, parents and friend's parents, and the kids live a kind of carefree existence where they are exposed to risks that would be unthinkable to 21st century parents.  However, for the most part, it depicts the world of the 1960s as an idyllic time.  The film is animated in a technique called 'rotoscoping' where scenes are shot with live actors and then the animation is traced over the footage.  Linklater had previously used the technique in Waking Life (2001) and A Scanner Darkly (2006). The animation is particularly effective in the frequent clips from movies and TV shows, as well as news footage.  The performances are good, and, mixing the historical with the personal, the film is a warm look at a very particular time and place.

 

Milo Coy in Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood