October Sky (Film)

 

Johnstone, Jon (Director).  October Sky.

Written by:  Homer Hickam Jr. and Lewis Colick

Release date: February 19, 1999 (USA)

Paramount Pictures

Cast:

Jake Gyllenhaal:   Homer Hickam

Chris Cooper:   John Hickam

Laura Dern:   Miss Frieda Riley

Chris Owen:   Quentin Wilson

William Lee Scott:   Roy Lee Cooke

Chad Lindberg:   Sherman O'Dell

Natalie Canerday:   Elsie Hickam

Randy Stripling:   Leon Bolden

Viewer’s Annotation:

In a town where boys grow up to work in a coal mine, Homer Hickam Jr. decided to follow his dream--all the way to space.

Storyline:

In Coalwood, West Virginia, in 1957, almost every man in town worked in the coal mines.  That was no exception for the father of Homer Hickam.  Homer, a high school student, loved school—especially science.  But Homer’s father John loved the mine and expected both of his sons to join him there one day.  Then came the day in October when it was announced that the Russians had launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite to orbit the Earth.  Homer was inspired but the possibilities, and began to study about and to try to make his own rockets.  With the help of Quentin, the school’s math geek and his friends Roy Lee and O’Dell, Homer actually builds and launches some rockets.  Most were flops, but with the support of Miss Riley, the science teacher, they experimented with the fuel and design, and were successful.  When a forest fire starts some distance away, Homer and his friends are blamed, with the authorities stating that it was a failed rocket that started it.  Then a disaster in the mine result in one death, and Homer’s father is injured.  Homer has no choice, he leaves high school and takes his father’s place at the mine while John recovers.  Eventually, Homer researches rocket trajectories, and he and his friends are able to find and recover their lost rocket—which was far from the fire.  Reinspired, Homer and his friends enter their work in the school Science Fair.  They win and the school sends Homer to the national science fair.  When Homer wins the top prize, colleges knock themselves over offering him scholarships.  When he returns to Coalwood and visits the hospital to see Miss Riley, now ill with Hodgkin’s Disease, and show her his medal.  The movie ends with the “Rocket Boys” launching their biggest rocket yet, named the “Miss Riley”.

Critical Analysis:

Based on the book Rocket Boys, by Homer Hickam Jr., October Sky is a inspiring story of one boy’s determination to follow his dream, despite the pressures put on him to do otherwise.  Homer’s relationship with his father, one of the main subplots in the movie, is filled with the tension between Homer desperately wanting the approval of a father, and yet wanting and needing to follow his own path.  The other main subplot is Homer relationship with Miss Riley.  Her support of Homer and the other boys endears her to the viewers.  When Miss Riley lies in the hospital bed dying of Hodgkin’s Disease, your heart breaks for her.  But seeing how her encouragement and support has propelled Homer closer to his dreams, brings her a measure of peace and closure.  Knowing that this is a true story makes this movie all the more inspiring.

Genre

Drama

Curriculum Tie-ins

Science

Rating

PG

Challenge Issues/Challenge Defense Ideas

None

Why I included this

• So many teen movies are comedy/dramas based on high school life and teen angst.  October Sky features a different kind of story that may inspire teens to not give up, and to shoot for the stars.
• October Sky has a 93% "Fresh" rating on review site Rotten Tomatoes based on 59 reviews

Great Quote from the Movie:

“No. Coal mining may be your life, but it's not mine. I'm never going down there again. I wanna go into space.”