Jake Gyllenhaal Movie:

Editorial Review:
Based on the memoir Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam Jr., October Sky emerged as one of the most delightful sleepers of 1999--a small miracle of good ol' fashioned movie-making in the cynical, often numbingly trendy Hollywood of the late 20th century. Hickam's true story begins in 1957 with Russia's historic launch of the Sputnik satellite, and while Homer (played with smart idealism by Jake Gyllenhaal) sees Sputnik as his cue to pursue a fascination with rocketry, his father (Chris Cooper) epitomizes the admirable yet sternly stubborn working-man's ethic of the West Virginia coal miner, casting fear and disdain on Homer's pursuit of science while urging his "errant" son to carry on the family business--a spirit-killing profession that Homer has no intention of joining.

As directed by Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer), this wonderful movie is occasionally guilty of overstating its case and sacrificing subtlety for predictable melodrama. But more often the film's tone is just right, and the spirit of adventure and invention is infectiously conveyed through Gyllenhaal and his well-cast fellow rocketeers, whose many failures gradually lead to triumph on their makeshift backwoods launching pad. Capturing time and place with impeccable detail and superbly developed characters (including Laura Dern as an inspiring schoolteacher), October Sky is a family film for the ages, encouraging the highest potential of the human spirit while giving viewers a clear view of a bygone era when "the final frontier" beckoned to the explorer in all of us. --Jeff Shannon

October Sky [Region 2] Reviews:
Great movie!
2009-11-28 - This was a great movie - highly recommend. We saw as a part of a training course. I came home and immediately purchased the movie on Amazon.

Best inspirational movie
2009-11-01 - This movie could inspire any one that they could accomplish any thing.
There are even lesson plans to go with it on the internet.

Sweet! Charming! Delightful to watch
2009-09-26 - This is based on a real life however still has a lot of dramatic elements to the delight of the viewers. It speaks about a boy and his dream to build a rocket in a most ordinary part of America. The boys do look like just ordinary American kids which is why this movie appeals me even more. This is not like a soap opera. The charm of this movie lies in its simplicity. A sweetness and innocence is written all over it. It is bound to remind you about your high school life. Very small, insignificant moments which we never witness in regular movies shown in the film makes it feel as if we are watching our young ages. In some beautiful passages, this film almost replays man's journey with science and technology, where failure has been a constant threat, still man went ahead to conquer the unknown.
Only one thing I felt could have made the ending even better is pushing the scope little further. What does our study teach us? Just the tools to get a job? Surely not. Study or education teaches us to solve all challenges we come across in life, to find answers to all questions that life keeps asking us. May be our parents and elders have found the answers before us, but we have to find these again for us. We cannot keep looking to parents for answers. In that sense, even after we leave college, our student life does not end. Life is itself like an examination, where questions are all unknown and unseen, there is no single book like 'Principles of Guided Missile Design' which we can look to for answers. It is we ourselves who have to do our own research to find a proper answer. That is the best fruit of education, like the mission of these boys to win the National Science Fair. The endeavor of the boys just did not help them to win the Fair, but the confidence and character to face any challenge in life - even of student life. That is the best blessing of having education. The script could have touched this a little.
But overall, a very sweet piece to enjoy. A MUST watch for All - even if you are no math wizard.

Review for October Sky
2009-08-31 - October Sky is a movie about a young boy who gets smitten with rockets. There are many great scenes in this movie, but the one I like is O. Winston Link as the engineer of the steam locomotive passing the boys after they pulled up a rail to use to make a better rocket. O. Winston Link had photographed the last of the steam locomotives in action on the Norfolk & Western Rlwy in the Appalachians. It was appropriate for him to be in this scene as, not too long after this, he passed away close to his home in the New York town of Mt. Kisco. Also, the belief the boy's teacher had was also special. Lastly, a lot of the Appalachian scenery is shown in this movie. I really liked this movie.

Will delight and Inspire
2009-08-29 - With so many reviews already online, I just wanted to add my vote to the many that affirm the rewards of viewing this excellent film. I have shown it to children, teenagers, adults and seniors, and all have commented on its power to delight and inspire. It was particularly moving to see the real people depicted in the film at the conclusion of the story. David Lee-Smith, New Zealand