It’s still early in the year, but already “Project Hail Mary” looks like it could have a strong gravitational pull on Oscar voters.
Ryan Gosling is the first name worth circling on any early Oscar ballot this year, thanks to “Project Hail Mary,” the wildly entertaining space dramedy from Oscar-winning duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Adapted from Andy Weir’s popular novel, the film follows Ryland Grace, an elementary school science teacher who wakes up alone on a spaceship light-years from Earth with no memory of how he got there. As the pieces slowly click back into place, so does the terrifying reality that he has been sent on a mission to figure out why the sun is dying and to stop humanity’s extinction before it is too late.
It is worth pausing to appreciate just how long and varied the road has been to get here for a former Disney kid star like Gosling. The Canadian-born actor first flashed across movie screens as Alan Bosley, a wide-eyed high school football player buried deep in the ensemble of “Remember the Titans” (2000). He pivoted to heartthrob royalty with the tear-jerker “The Notebook” (2004), and then, two years later, shocked everyone with a devastating turn as a drug-addicted middle school teacher in “Half Nelson” (2006), which earned him his first Oscar bid for best actor. Notably, he was playing a teacher then, too. He has come a long way from Brooklyn to outer space.
What followed was a decade of genuinely dynamic performances, many of which the Academy criminally undervalued. The Golden Globes and SAG Awards were happy to recognize his heartbreaking turn as a man who falls in love with a sex doll in “Lars and the Real Girl” (2007), a husband whose marriage is unraveling in “Blue Valentine” (2010) and an unnamed driver with a buried rage in “Drive” (2011). But Oscar kept looking the other way.
He came roaring back with Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land” (2016), which tied the then-record for most Oscar nominations in a single year. From there, Gosling kept expanding his range, adding the brooding existential mystery of a replicant in “Blade Runner 2049” (2017) and the stoic grief of astronaut Neil Armstrong in “First Man” (2018). Then the move no one saw coming: the pop culture detonation of playing the (sublime!) Ken in Greta Gerwig’s billion-dollar “Barbie” (2023), which brought him his third Oscar bid, for best supporting actor, and cemented his place as one of the most instinctively charming performers today. “Project Hail Mary” feels like the summation of all of it.
Gosling is essentially a one-man show for much of the film, and the performance demands something closer to what Tom Hanks accomplished with a volleyball in “Cast Away” than what most blockbusters ask of their leads. “Project Hail Mary” allows him to lean into his signature comedic timing, nervous energy and intellectual curiosity without sacrificing the grounded humanity that defines his best work. And who would think the way a man feels about a puppet shaped like a rock could make you cry so hard?
Coming off Michael B. Jordan’s best actor win for “Sinners” — a genre performance that, a decade ago, the more conservative corners of the Academy might have dismissed outright — the door is wide open for Gosling’s Dr. Ryland Grace to walk through it. There is humor here, sprinkled with wit, but there is a depth that sneaks up on you. That’s a testament to the brilliance of screenwriter Drew Goddard. Amazon MGM Studios would be wise to plan an aggressive campaign when the fall season rolls around, and the potential could reach well beyond acting alone.
One of the film’s most surprising strengths lies in the relationship between Gosling and his alien counterpart, Rocky, brought to life through practical effects and puppetry by stage performer James Ortiz. The character has the potential to become one of the most beloved sci-fi companions in recent memory. It recalls the days of the Academy’s Special Achievement Awards, handed out for stunning work that defied categories — most famously given to trailblazers like Ben Burtt for creating the alien, creature and robot voices of “Star Wars.” Many of us cinephiles long wished for a similar honor for Andy Serkis for his commitment as Gollum across “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Gosling and Ortiz’s dynamic — equal parts humorous, tense and genuinely moving — gives the film its emotional core, providing the leading man with a scene partner who draws out some of his most spontaneous and effective acting moments.
Ryan Gosling and Sandra Huller in “Project Hail Mary.”
©MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection
The film also features Academy Award nominee Sandra Hüller, whose karaoke moment singing Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times” is a delight that could add to what is shaping up to be a major year ahead for her, following her best actress win at the Berlin Film Festival for “Rose” and upcoming roles in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s mysterious Tom Cruise-led “Digger” and Paweł Pawlikowski’s “1949.”
Oscar history has not been kind to directing partnerships. Only four teams have ever been nominated together: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for “West Side Story” (1961, winners); Warren Beatty and Buck Henry for “Heaven Can Wait” (1978); Joel and Ethan Coen for “No Country for Old Men” (2007, winners) and again for “True Grit” (2010); and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022, winners). Lord and Miller have a real shot at becoming an entry on that list if the studio can steer the most effective narrative for the duo.
Smart campaigns for technically driven films build the best picture argument through the craft categories. Production designers Charles Wood and set decorator John Bush have constructed something extraordinary, not only in the interior of Grace’s ship but in the wholly original living environment of Rocky’s mobile home. The production designers branch has shown affection for immersive space environments before, nominating “The Martian” (2015) and “Gravity” (2013). Oscar winner Greig Fraser, who took home the trophy for “Dune” (2021) after prior nominations including “Lion” (2017), is working at the peak of his considerable powers. The action sequences, specifically those involving the spaceship skimming the upper atmosphere of a distant planet, are breathtaking in scope. His color choices in the film’s emotional climax are the subtle, purposeful craft work that the cinematography branch voters live for.
The relationship between Gosling and Ortiz recalls the magic that made audiences fall for “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” between the stranded alien and a young Henry Thomas more than four decades ago. In an era dominated by digital effects, the decision to go mostly practical feels like a breath of fresh air, and voters have rewarded that instinct before, from “Return of the Jedi” to “First Man.” Oscar-nominated composer Daniel Pemberton’s score is inventive and moving in equal measure, and the sound team’s work ranks among the year’s best so far. Editor Joel Negron’s pacing keeps the film humming, though the slightly generous runtime may become a talking point in awards circles come fall, and that will be worth monitoring.
“Project Hail Mary” is a crowd-pleaser in the most generous sense of the word. It shares the same source DNA with “The Martian,” another Weir adaptation that landed seven Oscar nominations and finished as one of the 10 highest-grossing films of its year. The industry has shown a consistent appetite for this kind of high-concept blockbuster storytelling over the past decade, with “Top Gun: Maverick” and, most recently, “F1.”
The film also stars Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung, Milana Vayntrub and Priya Kansara. In addition to Gosling, Lord and Miller, the film is produced by Amy Pascal, Aditya Sood and Rachel O’Connor.
The mission, should Amazon MGM choose to accept it, is to bring this film back into the conversation come fall, return it to theaters and remind voters exactly what made it special the first time around. The window is open, the rocket is fueled, and Gosling may finally be ready for liftoff.
