Gravity

GRAVITY takes you to space and deposits you orbiting above the Earth for 91 exciting, suspenseful minutes.

The movie opens with a brilliant, one shot, no camera cuts ten minute+ sequence that establishes the rules of space, the background of our characters, their relationships and finally the terror they will face in the next hour and a half.

Sandra Bullock is at her best as a nervous medical engineer named Ryan Stone, working outside the space shuttle with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski, played by George Clooney in a strong, humorous yet dramatic performance.

Just ten minutes in, a huge debris field caused by an exploded Soviet satellite hits the space shuttle.

The sequence features amazing special effects with 100% realism, powerful action and terror as Bullock and Clooney find themselves alone in the dark silence of space.

To tell more would be to ruin the strength of the film as it unfolds.

Director Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) will surely be up for an Oscar next year as he weaves a brilliant film with only two actors, a whole lot of tension and a race against the clock. Writing with his son Jonas, they will likely also be up for writing Oscars for their smart screenplay.

Bullock has never been one of my favorite actresses, but she has really started to win me over this year between "The Heat" and her superb performance here.

It's also great to hear Ed Harris here as the voice of Mission Control, a role you film buffs will appreciate from his legacy in Apollo 13.

The sound team knocks it out of the park, the music by newcomer Steven Price is fantastic but only intrusive at the right moments and the 3D is immersive without being showy. The filmmakers spent over two years developing new methods to portray weightless conditions on film and the results are worth the wait.

This is a terrific film.

Gravity is out of this world and floats to an A.