CLINT EASTWOOD IN SPACE COWBOYS

year: 2000 rating: **1/2

This film, centered on a group of tough old Air Force veterans who were overlooked as astronauts in the fifties and now given the opportunity to go to space, is so catered to an audience you’ll expect the actors to wink at the camera after each line.

The premise is rather weak: a dying Russian satellite must be retrieved, which mysteriously carried a now dated guidance system designed by director Clint Eastwood’s character, a world-weary rogue sporadically described as “not as team player” except when it comes to his old team he gathers for the trip: James Garner as a laidback preacher; Donald Sutherland as a womanizing rollercoaster architect (the comic relief); and Tommy Lee Jones as a stunt flier, the most likable of the bunch and truly the main character.

Prepare to root for the good guys... With one-dimensional jerks played by James Cromwell and William Devane, you won’t have a choice. And while it’s Cliché City as our heroes show their “Ripe Stuff” while training for the mission, these are the best scenes, covering over half the film and including some genuinely funny, and even touching, moments.

But once they go to space, with the exception of a rather poetic conclusion (with the aid of a lyrically fitting Sinatra tune), it’s dull as watching paint dry – but some of the colors aren’t bad.