Stunning, moody 'Ad Astra' is sensational but also a tough sell

Space-based films have been all the rage as of late, and they often can follow a familiar formula -- a sad hero has unresolved drama back home (or in their hearts) and interstellar peril forces them to confront it. In that way, Ad Astra is not too wildly different, but it is unique in every other way.

It is quite possibly the best looking outer space genre film I've ever seen, with director James Gray deliberately taking his time in several sequences so you can feel the full weight of the top-notch production design here. This was an expensive picture, and its easy to see why.

That being said, its mysterious trailers suggest a more action-packed film than audiences are going to get. Keep in mind, there are three fantastic suspense set pieces that are more than worth the price of admission, but the real tension here is all in the mind our lead character, a veteran astronaut played by Brad Pitt.

This is Pitt's show and he delivers a subtle, moving portrait of a man who's been suppressing his emotions for far too long. It's maybe the most vulnerable performance he's ever given and coupled with his work in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, it suggests that his late career work might just eclipse his early stuff. It helps that he barely looks a day over 40 and can hold a close-up like few other actors on the planet.

This is ambition, heavy lifting sci-fi, heavily influenced by Terrence Malick (the voiceover narration), but also, arguably, Denis Villenueve and Stanley Kubrick too. It's dense plot involves a mission gone wrong, a man-made disaster threatening the earth, father-son trauma and much more. And I worry, after a soft-ish opening, it'll be one of those misunderstood gems which will be deemed a failure because it failed to recoup its expense.

I really hope I'm wrong, because intelligent, creative sci-fi like this can often represent cinema at its best -- think 2001 -- and while some audiences may leave Ad Astra scratching their head just a little bit, I think it's an overall rewarding visceral and emotional experience.

It's also a bit of stealth two-hander -- with Tommy Lee Jones delivering some typically stellar work in a small but pivotal role. But for Pitt this will be remembered as one of his great roles. There aren't a lot of pyrotechnics to the performance like his showy work in a movie like 12 Monkeys. He's a real person here but he has so much star presence he can make a simple look feel special.

He'll probably be rewarded at the Oscars for his more accessible turn as the easygoing stunt man Cliff Booth, that character is warmer than his character here, but really both performances are some of the year's best.

I appreciate that he's still stretching as a performer and now leaning on his credentials, and I appreciate Gray, who's become a celebrated auteur, being willing to make such a contemplative space opera and trust that audiences will go along with it.