The Right Stuff (1983)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Chuck Yeager	Sam Shepard
Alan Shepard	Scott Glenn
John Glenn	Ed Harris	½
Gordon Cooper	Dennis Quaid	½
Gus Grisson	Fred Ward
Glennis Yeager	Barbara Hershey	½
Pancho Barnes	Kim Stanley
Betty Grissom	Veronica Cartwright
Trudy Cooper	Pamela Reed
Deke Slayton	Scott Paulin
Wally Shirka	Lance Henriksen
Louise Shepard	Kathy Baker
Recruiter	Jeff Goldblum

Review

Philip Kaufman approaches this project like a visionary, bringing numerous angles, aspects and tones to his film. As a result, The Right Stuff is a richly layered movie about the classic space race between USA and the Soviet Union in the middle of the 20th century. Kaufman grounds his subject in the history of aviation, centred around the records of legendary pilot Chuck Yeager – and the people following in his footsteps. For an introduction, this section is extremely detailed, and by the time NASA enters the picture with their space programme, Kaufman's quirky humour becomes more pronounced. The mixture of comedy and apparent serious human drama makes The Right Stuff – which clocks in at 3 hours – an offbeat film. It constantly draws interest, but also becomes somewhat detached at times. One can't help but feel that the film could have benefited from more economical editing, which would have reduced the focus on certain subplots. With that said, The Right Stuff becomes increasingly tighter and more magnetic towards the end, when Kaufman applies some delicate touches. The ensemble cast is largely fine, with Dennis Quaid's devilishly boyish smile a main attraction.