This year I am going to be better at trying to see as many Oscar films as I possibly can. The first movie on the list to see is The Maritan with Matt Damon. I walked into this movie praying it wasn't going to be like George Clooney and Sandra Bullock's Gravity (2013) film, which was nominated in 2013's Academy Awards. That film I didn't care if the characters were going to die or not.
The Maritan to my surprise was a well thought out film. Within the first ten minutes the conflict starts and within 15 minutes I already got the sense of the characters. So basically without saying what happens is about a Botanist, Mark Watney, who gets stuck on Mars after the crew leaves him during a storm on Mars because they thought he was dead but he ends up not. Now Watney (Matt Damon)'s character has to figure out how to survive on Mars for two or more years. Every character in this film I feel for. I even felt somewhat bad for Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels), the boss at NASA who had to make some tough decisions. He made stupid decisions, but the pressure of having to decide if all five should die or just one.
The movie had a really good pace to it. It had one conflict after the other. Everything was beautifully wrapped up in the ending. I would suggest bringing some tissues because the ending made me have some tears fall down my cheek.
I was really surprised to see Kristen Wiig, whose character is Annie Montrose, wasn't over the top stupid. She actually was normal for a change. I never could imagine her playing a normal type character.
I am not a science person so I can't say if what he is doing on Mars might actually work or not, but it sure is believable. That day will come when we are walking on Mars.
I don't understand how the Golden Globes would put this film under Best Motion Picture-Musical/Comedy. Yes, it did have moments where I laughed, but the subject matter and what Mark Watney had to deal with was not funny. But then again the movie Joy with Jennifer Lawerance was under that same category and I also didn't feel like that was a comedy either. The Martian won for Best Picture and Best Actor for Matt Damon.
It will be interesting to see if it wins for Best Picture as well as if Matt Damon will win a for best actor. It is also nominated for best sound editing. I think it should Ridley Scott should have been nominated for best direction.
I would highly recommend seeing this movie. This would actually be a movie I could see again in the movie theater. It is now on DVD so you can watch it at home, but if it's playing in the theatre near you I would highly recommend seeing it there and not at home.
The Martian would get 5 out of 5 stars. *****
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