Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood gives us the best of Linklater’s unique voice and style; it’s a story of childhood memories and innocence.
Academy Award nominee Richard Linklater is one of my favorite filmmakers. The director has made some of the most exciting and unique coming-of-age tales from Dazed and Confused, The Before Trilogy, and Boyhood.
With the release of his latest film Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood at this year’s SXSW film festival, Richard Linklater returns with nostalgic bliss. A film that celebrates youth in the 1960s and the historical awe and wonder of the Apollo 11 launch.
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood tells the story of Stanley, a NASA-obsessed nine-year-old boy. As the space race craze spreads throughout the country, Stanley is secretly recruited by NASA for a top-secret mission. Now, why would NASA recruit a child? Well, the answer is quite simple! In preparation for their Apollo 11 launch, NASA accidentally builds a module too small for adults but just the right size for nine-year-old Stanley to pilot to the moon.
With Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood, Linklater adds another entry into his rotoscope animation period. Following the footsteps of Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, Apollo 10 1/2 stands at the top of Linklater’s animated mountain. The film is just gorgeous. This animation style is not one I often gravitate to but every aspect of the film’s animation works. From the launch of Apollo 11 to seeing an animated version of my favorite redhead, Lucy Ricardo on I Love Lucy. This storytelling tool effectively captures the era while embracing the joy and exuberance of childhood.
What makes the film a unique sort of animal is Linklater’s choice to use NASA’s secret mission for Stanley as a MacGuffin of sorts to Linklater’s proper driving focus of the film – his childhood memories. It’s not hard to find parallels in Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast and Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, where these two acclaimed directors reflected on their youth with artistic and practical flair. Likewise, Linklater uses Stanley as a muse to recount the days of Astroworld, MAD magazine, appointment television watching, and the space race, thus providing adult-like escapism to days long gone.
Linklater’s choice to cast Jack Black as our trusty narrator was perfect. Using Black’s voice-over as an adult, Stanley allows the story to be told with respect and care to a child’s memories. Similar to Ralphie in A Christmas Story, cinephiles are treated with a child’s story without disrespecting a child’s naïve nature.
While the Apollo 11 mission is not the film’s focal point, Linklater effectively captures the craze of the space race. The level of intrigue many had during the era is understated in today’s instant gratification society. However, in 1969, families gathered around a small television awaiting history. A time in history that will never come again.
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood gives us the best of Linklater’s unique voice and style. A film that becomes a great companion piece to Dazed and Confused and Everybody Wants Some!!. It’s a story of childhood memories and innocence and will remain as one of my go-to animated films of 2022.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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About Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood
A man narrates stories of his life as a 10-year-old boy in 1969 Houston, weaving tales of nostalgia with a fantastical account of a journey to the moon.
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood is coming to Netflix on April 1st.
David Gonzalez is the founder and chief film critic of Reel Talk Inc. and host of the Reel Chronicles podcast. As a Cuban American independent film critic, David has written fair and diverse criticism covering movies of all genres and spotlighting minority voices through Reel Talk for the past eight years.
David has covered and reviewed films for Tribeca, TIFF, NYFF, Sundance, and several other film festivals. He is a member of New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO) and the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA).
As an avid film collector and awards watcher, David’s finger is always on the industry’s pulse. He informs and educates with knowledgeable and exciting content and has become a trusted resource for readers and listeners alike.
Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @reeltalkinc.