Billy Bob Thornton is one of our finest actors. Unfortunately, since stunning us in Sling Blade, he has taken on roles that have made him seem like a Hollywood eccentric of doubtful sanity. The Astronaut Farmer centers his career again and gives us an Oscar-worthy performance that doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning an Oscar because of the movie it is in.

Thornton plays Charles Farmer, a former astronaut who had to leave NASA when his father became ill. He is now a farmer, but in his barn he’s building a rocket. The whole town knows about the rocket, which has become part of their local color. Although Farmer is on the brink of bankruptcy -- rockets are expensive -- he refuses to budge from trying to realize his dream of flying in space to make up for his lost career. All goes reasonably well, in a folksy, nice-guy key, until Farmer buys rocket fuel. This sends a signal to the bad guys, the FBI and associated agencies, who arrive in force at Farmer’s farm. He must now face these folks off and remind them that "if we don’t have our dreams, we have nothing." To tell more would spoil your enjoyment of the film.

Thornton plays Farmer not as a crazy person, but as a calm, patient man who loves his wife and three children and wants to serve as an example to them. His family loves him back but, as the money runs out, is apprehensive about where their next meal is coming from. The Farmers seem like a normal, loving family with its ups and downs. Pitted against them is an array of clichés: the bank’s loan manager, who threatens to foreclose on Charlie; the FBI agents, who want to stop him from firing his rocket; the various good folks of the town, who think Charlie’s a nice guy and want to take advantage of the publicity he can bring them. The Polish brothers -- Mark, who wrote the script, and Michael, who directed -- observe these disparate elements with admirable restraint.

Thornton’s performance carries the movie, but he’s supported by some very accomplished actors. Virginia Madsen strikes just the right chord as Audie, Charlie’s loving but realistic wife. Max Thieriot is all trusting innocence as Shepard, their oldest child, no doubt named for America’s first man in space, Alan Shepard. Bruce Willis, this time wearing his nice-guy face, makes a telling (and uncredited) cameo appearance as Farmer’s old friend The Colonel, another former astronaut and the only sheep among the FBI wolves.

The movie, shot in sunny tones that give everything a glow, has a most appealing look. Some of the best shots are done in silhouette against sunrises and sunsets. The special effects are handled very professionally without smothering the gentle story.

The Astronaut Farmer will probably polarize audiences. I can imagine that many will find it ridiculous, but most of those will probably be people who haven’t seen it. On paper, the story does seem a bit strained -- but with Billy Bob Thornton at its core, the movie entertains while delivering a potent message about men and their dreams.

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