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I think I just reached a part of my Netflix queue that I added when I first started getting into Netflix, and I was bored one day and started adding all of Roger Ebert's recommendations. I can't think of any other reason why it looks so random to me. So expect all sorts of variety in the future!

The Right Stuff was another I had heard of and always meant to get around to, and now that I have, I wonder why I never saw it earlier. The cast alone is so enticing, especially now, because it's so fun to see all of these famous people in their younger years. Starring Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward, Barbara Hershey, Kim Stanley, Veronica Cartwright (who I always like to think of as "the bad acting mom from Flight of the Navigator" but is wonderful here), Pamela Reed, and Mary Jo Deschanel - to name a few - this movie is the story of America's first astronauts. I'd just like to add that Ed Harris isn't an actor that I tend to enjoy, even though he is usually a very capable actor, but with his role as John Glenn, it was impossible to dislike his infectious performance.

Beginning with recruitment of pilots, the story takes us through tons of tests and competitions and leads to the first manned trips into orbit. It's such a comprehensive storyline and is so interesting that I certainly didn't mind that it was three-and-a-half hours long.

The movie is beautiful from start to finish, with great use of color, costume, sets, and direction. I really liked the combination of imagery and music as well. The scenes with the failed takeoffs were particularly effective to me.

I liked that this movie focused a lot on character development rather than just telling us the events as they happened. This is the story of people, and whether or not it's completely accurate, it's a complete movie because the script got into the details, such as the story of John Glenn's wife (especially when she turns down LBJ for an interview). There are also several scenes that show the solidarity of the astronauts. I really liked watching them learn that they had to like and stand up for each other in order to reach their common goals.

But even beyond the grandeur of the space race, the movie is framed and intersected often by the story of Chuck Yeager, who began where all of those pilots did, but stayed there when they moved on. The movie really focuses on what makes a hero and what makes a good pilot, and I loved that this story flushed out that theme. They don't do that type of thing often with big movies these days.

Well, as you might guess, I really liked this movie. It's got such an interesting subject, but it tells that story in a great way, and has far more of a sense of humor than I expected. Great flick!