The Astronaut Farmer

Thornton carries the film with relaxed authority, though the earnest tone doesn't let him explore the nuttier aspects of a character who, from any reasoned distance ought look more screwy than heroic.

Fueled by a decidedly American formula of can-do crazy, The Astronaut Farmer feels, for all its libertarianism, a little lost in space.

Too odd for a studio movie, too cornpone for the independent scene, The Astronaut Farmer</i? finds its creators stuck awkwardly between worlds, making what amounts to a deep curiosity.

The filmmakers employ a good measure of schmaltz and shamelessly set up the rocket man with all of the dream-crushing road blocks you can imagine. But the good-natured affability of the whole thing works