Race to Space

Beware the “family film,” as that designation usually implies absurdly over-simplified storylines, on-the-nose dialogue and acting, and an overall tone worthy of the Disney Channel at its least subtle. And so it is with Race to Space, which tells the tale (“based on a true story”) of NASA's efforts to send a chimpanzee up in a rocket in 1961 and thus keep pace with the Soviets in the space race. The always reliable James Woods, sporting a passable German accent, plays Wilhelm Von Huber, the scientist leading the charge while his young son Billy (Alex D. Linz, in a performance that has almost nothing to do with the way kids actually behave--except in Hollywood movies) bonds like crazy with Mac, the adorable chimp chosen for the mission. Annabeth Gish is the fellow scientist who encourages Billy and tries to reason with his humorless, intractable dad (and we just know he'll come around, don't we?); William Atherton is the lead bad guy, concocting a laughable plan to sabotage the mission so some real Americans can take over the job from Von Huber and his German cohorts. All goes pretty much as expected, with the bad guys thwarted and the kid more or less saving the U.S. space program. Yawnsville, basically, but director Sean McNamara does a good job of maintaining what little suspense and genuine human interaction the script provides, making this recommended…for family audiences only, of course. (S. Graham)