Character is refined in the last stages of life when our true colors come to the surface. As we age, our uniqueness and eccentricities shine brightly. Whereas indigenous societies reverence this process by honoring elders and crones, Americans, who are obsessed with youth, view long-lived people as morbid, disgusting, and out-of-touch.
T. S. Eliot once wrote that "old men ought to be explorers." This entertaining and rambunctious film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner explores this idea with verve. The drama puts its own distinctive spin on the cliche that the longer we live, the less we are worth.
In 1958, pilots Frank Corvin (Clint Eastwood) and Hawk Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones) are members of Team Daedalus, an elite Air Force group testing high-altitude planes and dreaming of being the first American astronauts. When that dream is shattered, Frank blames Bob Gerson (James Cromwell), his commander, for betraying him.
Now 40 years later, this same individual is a NASA bigwig who's got a big problem on his hands. A gigantic Soviet satellite called Ikon is dysfunctional, threatening to fall out of orbit and crash into the earth. Much to the mystification of the U.S. space agency, the guidance system for this satellite is identical to that of Skylab, which was designed by Frank Corvin. Pushed by NASA Mission Director Sara Holland (Marcia Gay Harden), Gerson agrees to recruit his old nemesis for the repair mission. Corvin, who sees this as his chance to finally get to travel in outer space, insists on bringing along the old Daedalus team including Hawk, a widower and joyride pilot; Jerry (Donald Sutherland), an astrophysicist and structural engineer now designing roller coasters; and Tank (James Garner), a navigator who has become a Baptist minister.
Instead of respecting these pioneers of the space age for their knowledge and experience, the astronaut trainees and technicians at NASA subject them to countless pranks and jokes at their expense during a 30-day training course. The Flight Director (William Devane) orders two of his best astronauts (Courtney B. Vance and Loren Dean) to accompany them on the mission. The contrast between these technologically sophisticated team players and the idiosyncratic Daedalus four is amazing. Again and again, it is implied that the latter group's knowledge is obsolete because new techniques and technology are all that matter.
After a dramatic lift-off from earth, the repair mission turns out to be filled with surprises. What they find aboard the Ikon satellite challenges the mettle of the Daedalus four and their younger associates. In the end, the character of these elders comes to the fore and gives rise to the old-fashioned but never obsolete ethic of self-sacrifice.