"Interstellar" goes to infinity and beyond.

While we don't have Buzz Lightyear of "Toy Story" fame, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney of "Gravity" (2013) or the crew of "Apollo 13" (1995), we do have the mystery and awe of "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) and its sequel "2010" (1984).

In a word, we have: Wormhole.

It's a concept that even Neil deGrasse Tyson, American astrophysicist, author and director of the Hayden Planetarium, New York City, has been at pains to explain in analyzing "Interstellar."

You needn't worry that this movie reviewer will go there, either.

Instead, let's cut to the plot. There is a lot of plot in "Interstellar," too much to go into here.

In "Interstellar," Cooper (Mathew McConaughey) and Brand (Anne Hathaway) lead a flight into deep space in an attempt to discover a planet hospitable to humans, who have at some future date (it's not stated when) made planet earth uninhabitable.

As yet another dust storm gathers force that makes the 1930's dustbowl look like a child's sandbox, NASA chief, Professor Brand (Michael Caine), briefs Cooper and Brand on their "Mission: Impossible." Little do they, along with two other astronauts, Doyle (Wes Bentley) and Romily (David Gyasi), know what will befall their mission.

Cooper, a widower, is conflicted because he's leaving his pre-teen daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy as the pre-teen and Jessica Chastain as the adult), teen son Tom (Timothée Chalamet as the 15-year-old and Casey Affleck as the adult) and father-in-law, Donald (John Lithgow), behind to tend to the family farm cornfields.

While the extra-terrestrial visuals are jaw-dropping in the cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema ("She," 2013) and the accompanying sound effects in the Imax format of the Hans Zimmer score makes your movie theater seat vibrate like a motion simulator, "Interstellar" never quite escapes Hollywood's gravitational pull.

With "Interstellar," the awe of outer space grandeur is grounded by earthbound melodrama. There's a disconnect between the lofty ambitions of the screenplay, the need for story conflict and the penchant for graduate astrophysics seminar pontificating by screenwriters Christopher and Jonathan Nolan.

The dialogue often draws too much attention to itself or is semi-comprehensible pseudo-science gibberish. "This data makes no sense," it's stated at one point. Indeed. Most effective are the unspoken silences.

Director Christopher Nolan ("The Dark Knight Rises," 2012; "The Dark Knight," 2008; "Batman Begins," 2005; "Inception," 2010; "Memento," 2000) seems to have gone down a wormhole of his own in "Interstellar," which is clunky in its storytelling.

What makes "Interstellar" worth the effort, and an effort it sometimes is, are the performances, led by McConaughey, who may receive another Oscar actor nomination (Oscar actor recipient, "Dallas Buyers' Club," 2013).

McConaughey's acting prowess by now leaves no doubt. As driven space explorer and grieving father, McConaughey works both sides of the male psyche against the middle to chilling and emotional effect. He creates Planet McConaughey.

Chastain gives yet another riveting performance.

One of the most interesting characters in "Interstellar" is a robot, TARS (voiced by Bill Irwin), an R2-D2 (from "Stars Wars") meets Hal (in voice) and the Monolith (in shape), both from "2001," as a sort of walking, talking Möbius strip.

At 169 minutes, "Interstellar" is one minute longer than "Patton" (1970). You may want to avoid the largest-size beverage.

With the Nov. 12 landing of the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft Philae lander on the surface of Comet 67P-Churyumov-Gerasimenko, "Interstellar" inspires us to continue to look up in wonder, and not only at the big Imax screen, but to the heavens and beyond.

Credit Readers Anonymous: "Interstellar" filming locations included Alberta, Canada, and Iceland.

"Interstellar," MPAA Rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13); Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction; Run time: 2 hrs., 59 min.; Distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Box Office, Nov 14: It's a Harry and Lloyd world, after all, even 20 years later with "Dumb and Dumber To" opening smartly at No. 1 with $38 million, chugging past "Big Hero 6," which dropped to No. 2, $36 million, $111.6 million, two weeks, dropping "Interstellar" to No. 3, with $29.1 million, $97.8 million, two weeks, and keeping "Beyond The Lights," opening well back at No. 4, with $6.5 million;

5. "Gone Girl," $4.6 million, $152.6 million, seven weeks; 6. "St. Vincent," $4 million, $33.2 million, six weeks; 7. "Fury," $3.8 million, $75.9 million, five weeks; 8. "Nightcrawler," $3 million, $25 million, three weeks; 9. "Ouija" $3 million, $48.1 million, four weeks, 10. "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)," $2.4 million, $11.5 million, five weeks

Unreel, Nov. 21:

"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1," PG:13: The characters with the impossibly ridiculous names are back as are the stars who play them: Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta Malark (Josh Hutcherson), Haymith Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci), Claudius Templesmith (Toby Jones) Beetee (Jeffrey Wright), Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth). And, yes, this is only the first part.

"V-H-D: Viral," R: Fame-obsessed teens become internet stars. No, it's not about Instagram. Justin Benson, Gregg Bishop and Aaron Moorhead star in the horror film.

Read Paul Willistein's movie reviews at the Lehigh Valley Press web site, thelehighvalley-press.com; the Times-News web site, tnonline.com; and hear them on "Lehigh Valley Art Salon," 6 - 6:30 p.m. Mondays, WDIY 88.1 FM, and wdiy.org, where they're archived. Email Paul Willistein: pwillistein@ tnonline.com. You can follow Paul Willistein on Twitter and friend Paul Willistein on facebook.

Three Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes