I never knew Jake Gyllenhaal started out as a child actor, which came as a major revelation for me and that goaded me to watch October Sky. Ya, and also the preview showing Jake Gyllenhaal going to a social pariah (i.e. an outcast) and striking a friendship with him. That did it and I was eager to watch the movie.
Movie : October Sky
Released in : February 1999!
QB watched On : June 2025!
Starring : Jake Gyllenhaal, Laura Dern, Chris Cooper, Chris Owen and others.
Let’s jump into the review.
I love watching American movies, old and new but I especially love watching the ones from 90s because that was the best period in Hollywood (personal opinion).
The movie starts with Homer Hickman (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his family, Homer trying to find his way to get into college and he knows for sure that he doesn’t like being a miner. He is neither athletic like his older brother Jim Hickman nor good at his studies.
His father, John Hickman is a coal miner, in Coalwood, West Virginia, who expects Homer to follow his footsteps and become a miner. At one point John even tells his son Homer that, if he becomes a miner, that will make him very happy indeed!
Although I already know it, mining is not an easy job. One has to spend most of the day underground and anything may go wrong at any minute. But being a miner doesn’t guarantee good money.
Anyway, Homer is completely against becoming a miner like his dad, because he saw how the job affected his dad’s health.
Meanwhile, Russia makes a breakthrough in the field of science by sending Sputnik, the first artificial satellite from Earth, which moved at a low Earth orbit.
This particular incident inspired Homer which set into motion, his career and his aim to become a rocket scientist.
What follows is how Homer befriends the social outcast, the nerd Quentin (Chris Owen), to help him with the calculations and learning the basics. His two other loyal friends follow him and the four of them form an amateur group, who focus on building a rocket.
John Hickman is at loggerheads with his son, always asking him to quit his rocket making and join in mining. He bans his son from the town premises, forcing Homer to find a No Man’s Land, to conduct his experiments with his friends.
It is interesting to see how his people begin to show interest in his experiments and try to help him, from time to time.
He even faces minor setbacks, like police arresting him and his friends wrongly for a forest fire and even his own dad getting injured in a mining accident. But he pushes forward, to the relief and happiness of his favourite teacher Miss Riley (Laura Dern), who encourages him to take part in the Science Fair.
All is well that ends well and Homer Hickman wins a college scholarship and also gets acknowledged by his dad.
It is a truly inspiring to watch the October Sky. Jake Gyllenhaal is comfortable in the skin of Homer Hickman and I especially loved the scenes between him and his father, Chris Cooper as John Hickman. What a movie!
The end credits roll and we get to see all the original characters at the end.
P.S :
1. After watching Laura Dern, I felt nostalgic and was reminded of Jurassic Park and the Triceratops she tries to help!
2. The most dangerous jobs in the world are mining, tunneling and maintenance jobs of both windmills and sky scrapers!
Till the next post, ciao!
