Premise - When Homer (Jake Gyllenhaal) sees the Russian satellite Sputnik streaking across the cold October Sky, he decides to go against his father John's (Chris Cooper) wishes for him to become a coal miner and takes up the science of rocketry instead. October Sky is based on the true story of Homer H. Hickam Jr. The film was adapted from Homer's book 'The Rocketboys' and he was present on set during filming, so I would assume it's safe to say that the film is a fair approximation of the events that occurred. The fact that some of the events are as hackneyed as the most formulaic Hollywood output is therefore a moot one as these events actually transpired. Normally I am bothered by cliched stories and characters, but since this film portrays actual events I was able to let my normal reservations slide (to a certain extent, more later) and just sit back and enjoy the film. And what a film. Director Joe Johnston, who is better known for his work on effects heavy films like 'Honey, I Shrunk The Kids', 'Jumanji' and 'Jurassic Park 3' has really made a fine film here. With the effects pulled back to a handful of rocket launching shots, Johnston is able to show us that when his hand is forced he is more than capable of making a film of high emotion and drama. The film was going to live or die on the performance of the lead character, Homer. Jake Gyllenhaal (whom I saw recently in the risible 'Highway', in which he was by far the best thing) seems to be more than up for the challenge. It really is an amazingly emotional piece of work from the youngster. He is on screen for 90% of the film and not once is he anything less than convincing. Elsewhere Laura Dern shines as the encouraging teacher with Hodgkinsons disease. It's a fairly small, but important role and she shows us what she is capable of. Chris Cooper puts in a solid performance as the disapproving father. It's a similar role to the one he would go on to do in 'American Beauty' and he is well suited to the task. He just has this look about him that works well in these type of parts. Most surprising is Chris 'The Sherminator' Owen. His schtick in the American Pie films was a bit one dimensional, but he shows here that he can actually act outside of that role and I would like to see him take on more varied roles like this. One very impressive thing about the film is the set design and decoration. It's a very convincing recreation of a coal mining town in 50's America. A lot of time and effort was clearly put into getting the look of the film spot on and it pays off. October Sky is a great feel good movie, after the credits start to roll you have a warm feeling inside and believe that if you try hard enough anything is possible, as that's the message the film portrays. As schmaltzy as that sounds it's not the part of the film that damages it the most. The main stumbling block stopping October Sky from being a great film is the incredibly heavy handed ending between Homer and his father. The 'I love you dad'. 'I love you son' stuff is laid on a little too thick and comes over as unnecessarily syrupy. If they had toned it down a little in the last ten minutes then the film would have benefited on the whole. I find it hard to believe that this is how things actually worked out for Homer and his father, it feels just a little too contrived. Although as I said the real Homer was on set and the film is based on his book, so who knows. As it stands October Sky is an excellent feel good movie about the nature of hope and making dreams come true, with an unfortunately sickly sweet finale that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

7/10 for October Sky. Poster Quote - Reach for the sky.