Not enough laughs, but quite an adventure. This movie has plenty of action, likeable characters, and a fun, if unrealistic, plot premise. What it doesn't have are enough laughs.
Space Cowboys is an action movie about sending four old Air Force flyers into space to rescue a doomed satellite. The premise could have made a great comedy, but instead we get some save-the-world action and a heavy story with a few funny lines.
The laughs we do get are hearty chuckles, but they're simply spread too thin. There's a Baptist minister with a Hawaiian hula dancer fetish, a little fun with baby food, and a wacky Jay Leno cameo. Other highlights are the outer space segments, complete with lots of space lingo and the occasional feel-good moment.
A few times, the drama verges too far on the heavy side, with predictably depressing consequences. Confrontations between Frank Corvin (Eastwood) and Bob Gerson (James Cromwell) are tense but not explosive. The enmity is just a bit flat, since we can never quite believe that Gerson is as evil as Frank wants to think he is. Gerson himself is a walking contradiction, a sometimes-ally who would be a villain in any other movie but doesn't manage it in this one. It was a difficult role, but James Cromwell makes the most of it, for which I applaud him. Despite the contradictions, I almost always found him believable in the part.
Tommy Lee Jones was probably the most sympathetic character, for reasons that I cannot divulge but which will quickly become clear if you see the film. Moreover, his brisk, sincere style really developed his character, "Hawk" Hawkins, pilot extraordinaire. I have nothing but praise for his performance.
Clint Eastwood, James Garner, and Donald Sutherland all make the most of the old fogy stereotypes: grumpy old man, kindly old man, and dirty old man. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's not, but most of the time it feels genuine. They're oddballs, but they're real people.
The same cannot be said for Loren Dean, who plays a competitive young astronaut named Ethan. Ethan's professional animosity goes far beyond reasonable bounds, partly for the sake of the drama, but there should be more to it. It's wooden, it's forced, and it isn't explained adequately.
Overall, I recommend this movie as an action flick, but don't go in expecting a comedy or you'll be a little disappointed.