The movie opens with 6 astronauts already on Mars, busy doing their various research. Mark Whatney (Matt Damon) is happily noting the consistency of the dirt. He is the mission botanist. It is then that a sandstorm is spotted with sufficient severity that the mission needs to be aborted. During the evacuation, Whatney is struck by debris and thrown into the darkness. With all signs indicating he is dead and the storm threatening to topple their only means back to space, the other astronauts lift off. When Whatney awakens to an alarm on his suit, he soon discovers his dire situation. He has no way to communicate with Earth and his food supply is limited. It will be four years before another manned-mission arrives and he has less than a year of food. And so begins the problem solving.
The movie is like Apollo 13 on steroids. Houston, we have lots of problems! But, step by step, inch by inch, Whatney overcomes his problems. And new ones arise. With the notable exception of the storm that starts the ball rolling, the science is great. It really did have that Apollo 13 feel as Whatney and NASA worked through every problem, figuring how to put a square peg in a round hole. The geek references were always fun; the Council of Elrond was played quite nicely, especially since Boromir (Sean Bean) was in attendance.
Though the cast is extensive, the movie is entirely focused on Whatney. Where Ed Harris shared dominance with Tom Hanks in Apollo 13, in this movie, everyone else was secondary. Looking at the billing, it is surprising that Kristen Wiig was listed third when she had such a minor role. Here is a movie about making tough decisions or solving difficult problems; her character did neither.
It is a long movie but never boring. Thumbs up.
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