Ryan Gosling passes the Muppet test with Project Hail Mary, even though it’s not a Muppet movie. As Ryland Grace, a middle-school science teacher who wakes up on a spaceship with two dead crewmates and little memory of how he got there, Gosling eventually ends up sharing the screen—spoiler alert!—with another interstellar traveler, one that looks like a rock spider and is “played” by a puppet. No matter—Gosling brings all his charisma and comic timing to the relationship, delivering a solo show that’s entertaining and even, when it needs to be, touching. Additional credit should go to puppeteer James Ortiz, who also provides the voice for “Rocky,” giving the alien an eager, excitable personality (not unlike Ryland’s students). Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie) manage a coherent tone of genial wonder, while also offering some stunning, color-soaked space visuals, as well as a witty camera. (I enjoyed how many of the flashback scenes on Earth begin tilted sideways, as if we’re in zero gravity, then turn “right-side up.”)
(3/26/2026)
