- Starring
- Michael Peña, Rosa Salazr, Julio Cesar Cedillo
- Director
- Alejandra Márquez Abella
- Rating
- PG
- Genre
- Biography, Drama
- Release date
- Sept 15, 2023
- Where to watch
- Amazon Prime
Overall Score
Rating Overview
Rating Summary
Revolutionizing spaceflight (redundant, I know), NASA’s space shuttle program launched its first crew into the void in the Spring of 1981. Before putting up the shutters in 2011, they flew 135 missions with five shuttles and 848 astronauts. In between those years unfolded the events of A Million Miles Away.
A Million Miles Away
Born the son of migrant farmers in 1962 and not even learning English until the age of 12, A Million Miles Away tells the real-life story of José Hernández. Overcoming extreme poverty with hard work and dedication, as well as a devoted and self-sacrificing family, in 2009, Hernández achieved his lifelong goal and left Earth’s confines as a NASA astronaut.
A Million Miles Away is a familiar tale of perseverance and overcoming the odds to achieve one’s dreams. However, with a special mix of excellent and sometimes even inspired direction by Alejandra Márquez Abella and heartfelt performances by its cast, A Million Miles Away transcends what could have easily been a Hallmark schlock-fest. Instead, we are treated to a lovely tale that will fill you with the warm and fuzzies.
In a film without a single weak performance, the most surprising one is given by Michael Peña (Ant-Man) whose portrayal of Hernández is subtle and often touching. Aided by virtue of it being a real-life underdog story, his charisma and vulnerability are key to the film’s elevation from the mundane, making it impossible not to root for him. In one particularly stirring scene, Peña’s Hernández teeters on the edge of emasculation as he barely manages to hold on to his dignity while silently willing his wife to forgive and respect him.
It’s a common enough feeling for any man who has had to ask their family to make sacrifices so that he might gamble at success. It’s a mixture of guilt at missing ball games and first steps combined with the nearly fevered obsession with your goal and the rock in your stomach need for your wife’s respect. Peña nails it.
If the movie falters anywhere, it’s in its glossing over the cost of the sacrifices made by Hernández’s family as well as the “why” of his dream’s importance. Were it not for the craftsmanship exhibited by all, it would be easy for viewers to see Hernández as selfish.
After all, he was already a successful engineer who provided well for his family. His becoming an astronaut wouldn’t lift them out of poverty or set to rights some previously made wrong. It seems only natural that he should have a compelling reason to justify missing years of his family’s life. However, the film only grazes against this, relying on our investment in the character to blind us to the bigger picture, and it works.
With grounded and universal themes, crisp pacing, and economic dialogue delivered by solid performers and an invested and thoughtful director, A Million Miles Away is a feel-good movie that delivers on its promise.
Role Models in A Million Miles Away
There are numerous positive role models throughout the film The obvious one is José Hernández whose determination and hard work helped him to achieve his lifelong dream. However, the love, support, and sacrifice made by his wife and parents are key to his success, firmly making them his equals in this department.
WOKE ELEMENTS
- Even though it could have been much worse, especially when you consider the real Hernández’s politics, there were a few obligatory moments of identity politics injected in.
- There’s a brief conversation between Hernández and another minority astronaut in which she hits us with the, “do you know how important it is for people like us” to be represented routine. As though people of color are the only ones who have ever succeeded despite coming from nothing.
- When listing the differences between himself and those who have been chosen for the space program, his wife mentions that most of them had been Caucasian. Well duh. Most of the applicants were Caucasian. And it’s not like Hernández was anywhere near the first minority in space. He wasn’t even one of the first 10 Latinos.
James Carrick
James Carrick is a passionate film enthusiast with a degree in theater and philosophy. James approaches dramatic criticism from a philosophic foundation grounded in aesthetics and ethics, offering insight and analysis that reveals layers of cinematic narrative with a touch of irreverence and a dash of snark.
16 comments
Hank Hoggins
September 17, 2023 at 3:18 pm
Why are so many of these new woke movies being labelled ‘Non Woke’ by the admin. You even admit that minorities and immigrants are being pushed to the top of these kind of movies all the time. They would never have made this film if he wasn’t Latino, that is the definition of WOKE
James Carrick
September 17, 2023 at 6:04 pm
While there’s an argument to be made that the behind-the-scenes politics that got this movie greenlit might have been woke, the film itself was not.
shane
September 18, 2023 at 5:19 pm
I’m not sure you realise this, but the movie is a true story of a Latino, so the actor has to be Latino for an accurate portrayal. And he does a brilliant job. I hate woke garbage, but this is a true, feel-good story, and my very strong woke radar doesn’t pick up anything untoward here.
CE
September 22, 2023 at 4:45 pm
+1 to this – def not the first time. Love the site/idea but these missed opportunities to label things correctly are definitely adding up and making this site far less useful.
James Carrick
September 22, 2023 at 4:58 pm
Just to be clear, you’re saying that we should have marked this movie as woke because it’s a true life story about an American-born Mexican American. Do I have that right?
Brad Williams
September 24, 2023 at 8:57 am
Careful they’ll try to bait you into making the site seem like it’s run by racists. If it’s historically accurate it’s inclusion is never WOKE.
Kevin
October 13, 2023 at 2:57 am
I just finished this movie and had the “woke” discussion with my wife. We concluded that if this movie portrayed NASA as being discriminatory toward Hernandez simply for being a Mexican then it would truly be woke, as one point of wokeness is to try to convince people that America is a fundamentally racist and bigoted country. This movie reaffirms the fact that no matter who you are or your background, if you put in the hard work you can achieve anything in this country.
Selrisitai
September 20, 2023 at 4:30 pm
I’m very interested in this even just after seeing the trailer. I never thought I’d be this type of person, but I’m so averse to wokeness that I’ve largely eschewed any movie made after 2020, assuming it’s going to have at least a little bit of identity politics.
The issue is that “wokeness” is a stupid, STUPID ideology without logic. So when a director puts it into a movie, he’s just injecting a little bit of stupidity, but assuming that everyone agrees with it.
So even though I kind of want to see this, and it has a great rating, and there are only two small bits of wokeism. . . I’m reluctant to even bother with it. I don’t want really owe anyone anything, least of all my time, so why watch a movie that needs to pay lip-service to anti-human, anti-Caucasian sentiment? Even a little dog-dookie is too much dookie to eat a cake into which it’s been baked.
James Carrick
September 20, 2023 at 4:40 pm
Believe me, I understand. That’s precisely why we try to list each instance of wokeness. So, that everyone can decide for themselves just how much rat feces you can stomach in your cornmeal.
Kevin
October 13, 2023 at 3:03 am
I’m as unwoke as they come and believe me, this movie is worth it. It’s a great story, and the message is uplifting for any viewer. It doesn’t pander to a specific group. The message is clear, no matter who you are, if you put in the hard work, you can achieve anything you set your mind to. And the performance by Peña is excellent.
Hogster
September 21, 2023 at 7:54 am
Here’s the news folks. It might have escaped some Americans. Most Latinos are Caucasian. In Europe nobody considers the Spanish and various Mediterranean residents to be some other race. Much Latino immigration is making America more Caucasian again and they share many core values. But hey keep it under the radar!
HaveASideDishOfNuance
December 7, 2023 at 12:47 pm
Your attempted dig at Americans is betraying your ignorance. Latino/a is a term used in the US to refer to people from South America. While there may be some actual Spanish (or other Mediterranean) blood in latin people from Spanish conquests, the majority of latin people do not share blood with Europeans. Your blanket statement suggests otherwise and is misleading and uninformed. (I know you used “most latinos” and will likely try to use that as a fallback, but even then, no, it is not “most”)
I will agree on the point that many of the latin people I have met do have very good values and work ethics. Then again I have met those that do not. It’s almost like one could find both good and bad in all races. Huh.
Nick C
October 13, 2023 at 12:15 pm
Given the current cultural environment, it was hard to tell exactly why they were harping on the ‘farmer immigrant’ angle – whether it was to emphasis Jose’s journey or shoe-horn in wokeness. It’s left to interpretation, I guess. But that’s part of why wokeness is such a cancer. It sucks the life out of everything to the point that I have to question the motives behind why parts of our hero’s journey is emphasized. But whatever that reason, one thing is clear: Jose didn’t get to where he is because it was ‘his turn.’ Rather, he very clearly puts in the arduous effort and the painful sacrifices required to become the best of the best on the planet.
I wholeheartedly agree with James’ summary. This isn’t like nu-Trek where diverse characters are on screen to quite literally just fill a quota. This is more like old Trek, where you didn’t get to be on the bridge unless you were the absolutely best at what you did. Jose put in the work, *earned* his spot at NASA and merited his position beyond any doubt.
Merit: The antithesis of the woke agenda.
Great movie
Brandon
October 14, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Having “Wokeness” in a movie is 100% about how topics are portrayed, not the topics themselves. I don’t think that anyone would disagree that there is at least some racism in the world. To portray racism isn’t woke, it’s the way it is portrayed that makes it woke. If the main character’s identity or the story revolves and/or is driven by the racism, then it is woke. But if the main character encounters racism and overcomes it without being portrayed as a victim or being vindictive, then I think that is the most anti-woke message that can be sent.
At the time of this writing, I am not for or against the movie, as I have not seen it yet, but I am very interested. I will be curious to see how they handle the topics.
Brandon
October 14, 2023 at 8:57 pm
When the movie started I really thought the whole movie was going to be about race. I was presently surprised to find out it was not. I think it was well done. There were a few scenes where I thought they were playing the race card but they didn’t. They didn’t paint Caucasians in a bad light. The beginning was more about the struggles of the family working on the farm and moving around. But it did not use race to place the blame on anyone. It was more speaking to what was actually happening during that time with immigration and labor but didn’t play it off as a race card. But again, it was never painted in a negative light. I can see how a lot of people would be turned off immediately and stop watching. But it doesn’t paint the picture as a racial thing, but more about the struggles the family is going through. I think this is the part where most would turn it off if they were going to.
The movie was not about him being denied because of his race as someone else stated. It was due to his lack of skills. They even addressed this. I will say that they that there were two particular lines during this discussion where the wife seemed to kind of take a stab at “whites” but the main character kind of brushed her off and kind of corrected here. I think these two lines might have been what turned people off and started calling it woke. I don’t feel like they were over the top by any means, and the main character sort of corrected / dismissed the statement. I should point out that these lines were factual in what they said. So I took it with a grain of salt.
There was another scene where the secretary thinks he is a janitor. It was never stated the reasoning but it was played out as if it was because of his race. However, this drove part of the story, and again was not over the top. I felt it was justified and was well done. It was not preachy but kind of made a joke about it later in the movie. It felt it fit with the story.
These were really the only things I saw that stood out as being woke, and I felt that they really weren’t and could easily be argued as realistic for its time.
Overall I thought the story was great. It pulled at the heartstrings, but in a good way. It is a feel good movie, and as far as “Wokeness” goes I would say on a scale of 1-10, I would rate it a 0.5. Nothing like these other movies coming out. I really agree with its rating of being “Non-Woke”.
Di
April 25, 2024 at 12:02 pm
Interesting. I severely disliked the interview of Mike Pena where he talked about not getting roles and how he had it the hard way so he has a track with the hero’s life experience. Well, you live in a majority white country, so of course, you are not going to get a lot of roles when considering you are in a group that comprises only 17% of the population. That was illogical and woke even though I’ve met Mike and I liked him and know he is not really like that. Still the pain of seeing this ideology pushed everywhere did activate that button and made me not want to watch it. But you did change my mind about the movie.
As to a poster talking about bad and good Latinos, I have an opinion on that, based on my observations as a foreigner. People bring their culture with them, wherever they come from. When we look at the countries they come from, we can see that corruption is part and parcel of the cultures they grow up in. So they do bring that, and even though there is a lot of good in their culture, they unfortunately carry this over here as well.