Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood
2022
*****
Director: Richard Linklater
Cast: Milo Coy, Jack Black, Glen Powell, Zachary Levi, Josh Wiggins, Bill Wise, Natalie L'Amoreaux, Jessica Brynn Cohen, Sam Chipman, Danielle Guilbot

Just as NASA are about to put a man on the moon in July 1969, 9-year-old Stanley joins a top secret Apollo 10½ mission, at least in his own head. Richard Linklater's nostalgic and loosely autobiographical film is an absolute delight. The story revolves around the space race, but for most parts this is a plotless but absolutely charming and detailed depiction of Stanley's childhood in Houston with his parents and five sibling. The film is a mix of full or partial animation and rotoscoped live-action footage, like Linklater's A Scanner Darkly.