I've been reading about this one for quite some time, so I've been eager to see if it's the real deal. Two Oscar winners in a two-person film should be impressive.

Directed by three-time Oscar nominee Alfonso Cuarón ("Children of Men") with a script by Mr. Cuarón and his half-brother Jonás, this PG-13 science fiction thriller takes us to outer space where a medical engineer and an astronaut become untethered from their crippled space shuttle.

Drama ensues....

• * Sandra Bullock ("The Heat") in the role of a lifetime, is a brand new technician with only six months of training under her belt. As the publicity says, she has recently lost a child and is trying to cope with her grief. Her language still reverts to her life with a youngster, e.g., when confronted by some confusing options, she automatically says, "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe..."
• * George Clooney ("The Descendants") is the flight commander. He is a major chatterbox: funny, informed, and very smart. He consistently uses humor to diffuse the situation. I still want to know what happened in New Orleans at the Mardi Gras!

I didn't like our heroine's little squawks of terror, but my biggest problem is with credibility: that Russian Soyuz station is within visual range, as is the one from India. On the other hand, the special effects that illustrate the lack of gravity are exceptional. Objects which float away or drift into view remind us what a boon gravity is for us and why zero gravity is such a challenge. I tend to find films of this nature unsettling, and this one is certainly no different. BTW, that parachute was a nightmare!