Even if Amazon’s A Million Miles Away isn’t in the pantheon of great grounded space flight movies, I’m still a sucker for what it does. I love realistic films about space travel… Apollo 13, The Right Stuff, Gravity, The Martian, and Interstellar. So I was the Prime (pun intended) candidate for this film.

The flick introduces us to Hernandez as the son of a migrant farmworker struggling to make a life for his family. Hernandez has an aptitude for math and science so his teacher and family encourage him and he grows up to be a NASA engineer.

Michael Pena and Rosa Salazar pull off their real life characters well. The film champions their marriage and Mexican-American roots which is appropriate because that’s what makes his story unique. A migrant farmworker turned engineer turned astronaut.

But even without the hook, the film’s focus on the astronaut training program is inspiring. We don’t get enough movies that don’t blow up the space ships so having one that’s about just getting there is great. I appreciate how it shows off the fortitude it takes to even get picked… the drive he needed and the skills he had to learn.

Sure, it’s not always a smooth ride. It takes too long to get to the NASA bits and it makes mistakes as a biopic with weird editing choices and shortcuts. But when it focuses on family and goes for the inspiration, the dream, and the heartstrings, it works. I kind of lost it when he meets his teacher again later in life.

So, yeah, I really enjoyed this movie despite some flaws. What it does right is exactly the inspirational story I love. Its focus and dedication to his Mexican-American roots, complete with moving shots of his family and farmworkers looking up, are equally aspirational. This is a good film that knew exactly how to manipulate me. In a good way!

Score: 85