Interstellar ups the ante on Gravity to near-epic proportions: A "stirring symphonic adventure in space and time" Watch this trailer from the film Interstellar, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Michael Caine. Photo: Paramount Pictures/Interstellar PROUDLY doffing its cap to sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey and the criminally forgotten space race docu-drama The Right Stuff, Interstellar ups the ante set by last year's Gravity to near-epic proportions. It's an extraordinarily ambitious undertaking, which leaps effortlessly between outer space and the ravaged Earth it seemingly seeks to leave far behind. Matthew McConaughey, fresh from his deserved Oscar win for Dallas Buyers Club, is a natural as the people's hero: a single father (widowed) working the land, who must leave his family behind to help find a future for humanity before it's too late. Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey in a scene from the film Interstellar. As he does so, a giant dust bowl advances, threatening to envelope the family pile. Clearly, there is little time to find a solution. Leading the space flight, which follows previous manned probes into other worlds, soon throws up a series of twists and turns, as Earth disappears from view. The view from space is spectacular, topping even Gravity, thanks in part to a heart-pounding score from Hans Zimmer. And everyman McConaughey keeps our hopes and fears grounded in reality, even as the story spins off into increasingly unpredictable (and, occasionally, unlikely) directions. Jessica Chastain in a scene from the film Interstellar. Between Interstellar and The Theory of Everything, one film is lovely, the other numbing. WSJ film critic Joe Morgenstern reveals which is which. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures The film's director, Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises) is a self-confessed space geek, mournful at the loss of NASA's power to awe us here on the ground. Here, he ensures there's plenty of scientific gobbledygook thrown in, as McConaughey's group of astronauts battles wormholes, dimensions colliding, and uninhabitable outer-lying planets, with sidekick Anne Hathaway seemingly to blame for the crew's mishaps. Does it make sense? Not ­really. But that's hardly the point. The mission here, Nolan has stated, is to reflect the ­essence of his equally barmy and far-reaching Inception, a feat he largely achieves, with a flourish otherwise lacking from mainstream cinema. Matthew McConaughey in a scene from the film. However, perhaps sensing our bewilderment at all the film's scientific mumbo jumbo, he subjects us to endless streams of dialogue that state the obvious and add little. An absurdly long finale is also far too creaky to quite make this the modern masterpiece some are willing it to be. Ill-advised dramatics aside, it does come closer than most, with some truly astonishing ­sequences. See it on the big screen and let discussion about humanity and our place in the cosmos begin. Expect it, too, to lead the Oscars race in the coming months. Mackenzie Foy and Matthew McConaughey in a scene from the film. Film Interstellar Director Christopher Nolan Running time 169 minutes Verdict A stirring, symphonic, three-hour adventure in space and time Originally published as Stellar space film bound to lead Oscars