“INSPIRING STORY OF FAITH, FAMILY AND HARD WORK”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
A MILLION MILES AWAY on Amazon Prime is about the first migrant farmworker ever to go on a space mission for NASA. Starring an outstanding Michael Peña as Jose Hernandez, the movie shows Jose’s hardscrabble childhood as a traveling farmworker, until a teacher reads of his dream to be an astronaut. The teacher convinces Jose’s parents to stop traveling and allow their children to flourish in a stable environment. Jose graduates college and becomes an aerospace engineer, but his dream of being an astronaut proves elusive. Can Jose’s persistence pay off? Can he balance his work with being a good husband and father?
A MILLION MILES AWAY is an incredibly inspirational, wholesome movie for all ages. It takes a down-to-earth approach to this story of celestial ambition. Jose is a truly relatable character who will inspire viewers to realize their dreams can be achieved through hard work. A MILLION MILES AWAY has a great message for children and teenagers. The fact that the movie is filled with Christian faith and has a complete absence of offensive language makes it terrific viewing for families.
CONTENT:
(CCC, BBB, PPP, CapCapCap, L, V, A, M)
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
Very strong Christian, moral, pro-family worldview with Pro-American, pro-capitalist content features highly devout Catholics who are shown praying, wearing a holy medallion, having a chaste courtship, and the lead couple is shown happily having five children, with a very positive look at marriage and family life, and the value of hard work to achieve one’s life’s goals and dreams is a primary message of the movie
Foul Language:
Two uses of OMG but they’re in context of serious tragic moments where the characters are truly calling out to God. No other foul language – obscenities or profanities – at all
Violence:
No depicted violence, but brief discussion of a relative being shot dead, which further inspires the lead to succeed, and of a space shittle crashing, which causes great worry briefly shown in the lead and his family
Sex:
No sex
Nudity:
No nudity
Alcohol Use:
Very mild casual beer drinking in a couple of scenes
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
No smoking or drugs; and,
Miscellaneous Immorality:
Some racial stereotyping and discrimination but rebuked.
MORE DETAIL:
Based on the true story of Jose Hernandez, the first migrant farmworker ever to go on a space mission for NASA, A MILLION MILES AWAY is an incredibly inspirational, completely clean movie that all ages can enjoy. Starring an outstanding Michael Peña as Jose, A MILLION MILES AWAY shows his hardscrabble childhood as a traveling farmworker, until one of his teachers reads of his dream to be an astronaut and begs his parents to stop traveling and allow their children to flourish in a stable environment.
Jose graduates college and is hired as an aerospace engineer, but the latent stereotyping of him by his bosses and a secretary results in him being treated like a janitor and a pointless, constant photocopier. When he discovers something wrong in a report he’s copying, Jose’s eagle eye and strong analytical skills set him on a fast track to success.
However, his dream of being an astronaut still proves elusive and risks putting a strain on his loving marriage. Can Jose’s persistence pay off? Also, can he balance his workaholism with being a good husband and father?
A MILLION MILES AWAY takes a down-to-earth approach to this story of celestial ambition. In the hands of the filmmakers and the actors, Jose becomes a truly relatable character who will inspire any viewer to realize that their dreams can be achieved through hard work as well. It’s a great message for children and teenagers in particular. Even better, the fact that the movie is
filled with Christian faith and has a complete absence of offensive language makes this movie terrific viewing for families.
Jose briefly tries to tell his wife that his not being a Caucasian is keeping him from being an astronaut. However, she rolls her eyes and encourages him to figure out what he’s lacking as a candidate that can be changed for the better. The resulting in-depth view of all the surprisingly eclectic skills that astronauts must possess is fascinating and entertaining.
Also impressive is the fact that the movie makes the lead’s Catholic/Christian faith an integral, vital part of his story. It gives him the strength to weather many rejection letters from NASA. It also results in a beautifully rendered portrait of a loving marriage and family that doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges faced in life but shows that faith and love can help us through anything.
The one thing to perhaps note for parents of young children is that the movie deals with an unseen shooting death and a crash by a space shuttle. However, both tragedies take place offscreen. They are brief parts of the story that will likely be overlooked by children watching this story of a seemingly impossible childhood dream brought to fruition.
A MILLION MILES AWAY stands tall as one of the best movies of the year so far.
