Billy Bob Thornton portrays wannabe astronaut Charles Farmer, and Logan Polish plays Sunshine Farmer in 'The Astronaut Farmer,' a far-fetched story about the importance of following dreams. STEPHEN CHERNIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

'ASTRONAUT' FAILS TO LAUNCH

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Date published: 3/1/2007

THE ASTRONAUT FARMER (PG) H

STARRING: BILLY BOB THORNTON, VIRGINIA MADSEN AND BRUCE DERN

RUNNING TIME: 104 MIN.

There's nothing wrong with the cast of this off film, or with the quaint little ranch and town it creates.

The problem here goes more to its core. In short, does anybody anywhere believe that even the handiest of former pilots could wander out to the barn and build a rocket to put him in orbit?

And then return him to a nearby field in time for breakfast the following day?

There's nothing wrong with the way Thornton portrays the man whose dream, to orbit the Earth for NASA, was shattered when his father died and he had to come home to run the ranch.

It's just that we can't believe the details of his personal crusade to launch. Not the amount of fuel it would take to launch the thing, not the construction of all of its operating systems, not the mission-commander role his teenage son plays.

Yes, the importance of following dreams is a worthy topic.

But perhaps this should have been a Disney movie, maybe with Herbie the Love Bug tagging along.

Then it would have an air of nonsense and silliness to help us accept this far-fetched tale instead of just shaking our heads and wondering what they were smoking when they came up with this one.

Rated PG for thematic material, peril and language. [RF, RA, M]

THE NUMBER 23 (R) HH

STARRING: JIM CARREY

AND VIRGINIA MADSEN

RUNNING TIME: 95 MIN.

For the first 30 minutes or so, this tale of a bizarre book and the fascination it creates with the number 23 grabs you.

For that opening stretch, it's not hard to buy Carrey as a working Joe whose wife stumbles onto a book that gets him fascinated with the number and another man's all-too-similar life.

Madsen, suddenly everywhere, is solid as the wife who simply tries to keep her husband from losing his mind.

The problem with this film, as with so many, is that it doesn't deliver the big finish to match.

HOW WE RATE 'EM H Don't waste your time. HH Nothing special HHH You'll be sorry if you miss it. HHHH A must-see

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Date published: 3/1/2007