One Famous Summer, a Young Boy Gets to Shoot for the Moon

Milo Coy voices Stanley in 
"Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Two of the most notable aspects of writer-director Richard Linklater’s movies are their sense of nostalgia and their setting in his home state of Texas.  When he constructs a story around these factors, he creates a view into this part of America that means so much to him and provides us with stories that give us genuine characters.  With a mix of realistic people and relatable narratives, Linklater has shown himself to be a filmmaker who has a strong sense of time, place, and people when he brings all of that to life.  We’ve seen these aspects at their strongest in “Dazed and Confused,” “Boyhood,” and “Everybody Wants Some.”

He does this once again in his animated film, “10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood,” a warm and humorous coming-of-age story that’s rooted in Linklater’s moviemaking sensibilities.

In the summer of 1969, Stanley (Milo Coy), a boy growing up in Houston, Texas, is recruited for a preliminary mission to the moon.  Meanwhile, the rest of the his hometown and NASA finalize their preparations for the Apollo 11 mission that would change history. 

The whole movie is told through the perspective of an older Stanley, who’s voiced by Jack Black.  With the voice-over narration taking up most of the spoken words in the film, all of it comes down to him to help us become invested in the character.  It works because Black provides his character with a tone of someone reminiscing fondly over his past and inviting the viewer to take part in these trips through his cherished memories.

Although Black does a terrific job with the narration, the one downside is that Linklater’s screenplay could have used a little less of it and let the characters speak for themselves.  But, you eventually give yourself over to the way this story is being told, going from one aspect of Stanley’s life to another, offering a loving tribute of his home in Texas.  We’re given a view into the joy of his day-to-day life as he spends time with family and friends, gets into mischief at school, and ventures throughout his town to enjoy what it has to offer.  The main character opens up his life to you, and you’re given many details as to what made it so special to him.

Just like what Linklater did with his films “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly,” he employs the rotoscope technique of animation, filming scenes in live-action, and then animating them in post-production.  This type of animation fits beautifully with the story it’s telling because you have the sort-of live-action look of the characters, the realness of which helps to emphasize the historic events of the Apollo 11 mission, while the animation connects well with the sense of imagination that Stanley displays, as well as the childhood fun that he experiences.  Through all of this, Linklater offers an abundance of 1960s-era details that absorb us in the setting and connects us with the memories with which Stanley regales us.

As it provides a view into the past with people looking towards the future, “Apollo 10 1/2” is another wonderful movie from Linklater that highlights small-town individuals with big dreams.

Grade: A-