So we all know this is a great film, but after rewatching it this weekend, I'm still not sure how. I thought I'd examine it a bit. It's not a particularly novel concept; it's Three Amigos meets Star Trek, exactly. The cast is excellent, sure, but it stars Tim Allen. The director is Dean Parisot, whose other two films (Home Fries and Fun With Dick and Jane) are pretty much junk. It's a very pretty Blu Ray, but not a very pretty movie, aping the original Star Trek series as it does. And yet somehow, it belongs in a tier with Ghostbusters.
David Mamet has called this a film with perfect structure, and he is of course right. Every single plot thread is paid off, every single character has a successful character arc, and every scene works towards one or both of those things. Whoever cast this deserved a big bonus too. There's almost a dozen characters here, and they're all perfectly played. In some cases, I think the entire reason some of them work so well are the actors involved. Sam Rockwell absolutely kills it, when on paper, there's almost no character to speak of at all, by design. And yet he becomes one of the most identifiable people on the screen. Similarly, Enrico Colantoni, who plays the Thermian leader Mathusar, basically makes a role that is mostly exposition into the emotional lynchpin of the film. And they're both ridiculously funny. And there's Tim Allen, an actor whom I've never liked at all, starting with Home Improvement and going on to forever (save Buzz Lightyear, fine). He's perfect here, nailing the Kirkness of the role without ever once being tempted to Shatner it up at all. He's also playing an annoying boob without ever actually being annoying. Apparently, Mamet was such a fan that he gave him the role in Redbelt because of this movie. Even Justin Long is completely endearing here. And there's no need to even mention Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, or Tony Shalhoub. They're all just kicking so much ass.
The direction never really distinguishes itself in any specific or showy way, and yet, it's perfect. Exactly what's called for. Parisot nails the exact tone for each scene, finds the exact right degree of seriousness in every exchange, and yet also, the movie is consistently hilarious, even though it doesn't even have that many jokes in it. I take this as either an example of pure kismet, where everything on the set just went totally right, or maybe more likely, a strong example of how talented even a nameless journeyman director can be, in the right circumstances. The rumor is that Harold Ramis was originally scheduled to direct, but clashed vehemently over the casting of Tim Allen (Ramis wanted Steve Martin). What's strange about this is that sight unseen, this trade off would seem like a crippling mistake on the studio's part, but I can't imagine this alternate version, with personal favorites Ramis and Martin, ever living up to what we got instead.
But really, despite the perfect structure and creative players, I wonder if it comes down to the loving genre details. I'm not a huge Trekkie, but like any good nerd, I've certainly got some affection for the property and the cast members. And I think this is where the Colantoni character comes in. Galaxy Quest is ultimately about vindication. It's a movie that's largely about how much the silly little scifi show ultimately meant to someone, well beyond the scope ever imagined by it's creators. It's writ large here (the fate of an alien civilization, no less), but it's cathartic, I think, to see the actors assume the mantle the fan community has invested in them. And they get to see their fake example inspiring real life motivation. Even the Galaxy Quest theme song, which starts as a parody of tinny heroic TV themes, becomes downright stirring by the end, because then it's real, and has meaning.
Well, I think it's great anyway.
