Proof that details are the heart of all good storytelling, Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood is loaded with tactile particularities, drawn from writer-director Richard Linklater’s memories of growing up in the suburbs of Houston around the time of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing. Employing standard animation techniques alongside the rotoscoping method he used on Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly—in which live-action footage is digitally “painted”—Linklater and animation director Tommy Pallotta immerse us in the daily rhythms of a fourth-grader named Stan: the way his dad would drop the tab from a recently cracked can of beer into the can; the harried mother next door who would give her kids rubber bands to chew on between meals; the sandwiches he and his five siblings would make on Sunday nights for school and keep in the freezer, thawing some out each day of the week. And, of course, there are details around the space mission itself, largely monitored by the family around their single television set. (Another great touch: the constant jostling for a seat on the couch, with Stan, the youngest, often stuck sitting on the floor.) The animation style lends all of this a storybook feel, as does Jack Black’s voiceover narration, delivered from the perspective of Stan as an adult. Apollo 10 ½ is so adept at making the mundane magical that it almost doesn’t need the conceit that gives the movie its title: Stan’s elaborate daydream that he was recruited by NASA for a test mission to the moon that took place in secret just before Apollo 11 launched. It’s a cute touch (and the animation keeps it from being coy in the manner of a bad kids’ flick), but more potent is another poignant, everyday moment: when Stan, worn out from spending the day at an amusement park, can’t keep from drifting off as the actual moon landing plays out on TV on July 24, 1969. Sometimes fanciful fiction can’t compare to relatable reality.
(3/27/2022)
