A Million Miles Away Movie Review

A Million Miles Away (2023)

Rent A Million Miles Away on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book (paid link)
Written by: Bettina Gilois and Hernán Jiménez and Alejandra Márquez Abella (screenplay by), Jose Hernandez (based on the book by)
Directed by: Alejandra Márquez Abella
Starring: Michael Peña, Rosa Salazar, Julio Cesar Cedillo, Veronica Falcón, Garret Dillahunt
Rated: PG
Watch the trailer

Plot
A bio-pic about Jose Hernandez and his path from a farm worker to becoming an engineer and an astronaut in a tale of perseverance, community, and sacrifice to accomplish a seemingly impossible dream.

Verdict
This is just so wholesome, you can't help but like it. It's one of the ultimate chasing a seemingly impossible dream movies, but this knows the genre well. It doesn't try to pull any punches, the focus is always working harder to achieve the impossible. You know how it will end, and this is the rare movie where that's completely expected and welcomed.
Watch It.

Review
Jose (Michael Peña) is the kid of migrant workers who are trying to make a living. Jose is smart and gifted at math. We jump cut to Jose graduating college and applying to NASA. He's hired as a lab engineer where the receptionist mistakes him for a janitor because he's Hispanic.

Michael Peña plays Jose Hernandez

Peña's a little old to play college aged. It really doesn't work, but he plays a better older Jose. 

He's ignored and given low level copying jobs. I wasn't sure if that was because he was new or Hispanic. Through making copies, he sees a laser test result that concerns him. Since he's a go getter, he sets up a test and discovers a factor in the experiment the other scientists didn't realize. It's a moment that shows us who Jose is. When he sees a problem he goes after it. He still wants to be an astronaut, applying to the program every year despite not being approved.

Jose marries and starts a family while working for NASA. His wife eventually finds out he wants to be an astronaut and she encourages him to chase it. Whatever classes and training he needs, go for it. It's a touching movie about chasing a dream. Jose has overcome surprising odds just to work at NASA. While he's had help, his accomplishments are completely his own.

Michael Peña plays Jose Hernandez

This is a movie with a message that never misses a chance for a touching moment or to reminds us just how far Jose has come. He had a dream as a child that he's still chasing. This even brings back his grade school teacher to create another moment. While I find emotionally manipulative movies annoying, this one is so wholesome and focused that I don't mind. It's not a ploy, this is the movie's goal and it builds to these moments well.