A Million Miles Away, starring actor Michael Peña, released a little over a month ago on Amazon. The movie details the life of the first migrant worker to go to space. The film is based on the true story of José Hernandez, a Mexican-American who overcomes the odds to become an astronaut. Hernandez’ parents were both migrant workers and he spent a good portion of his childhood doing the same. He would go onto develop the first mammogram, in which he overcame many challenges to become a member of the Space Shuttle mission STS-128. The film is overall enjoyable as director Alejandra Marquez Abella did a fantastic job.
Plot Overview (Spoilers)
The story begins with José’s family migrating from Michoacán to California as farm workers looking for a better life in the late 1960s and early 1970s, jumping decades throughout. His family’s goal is to save enough money to buy a house in Mexico. While juggling school and fieldwork, José captures the attention of his teacher, Ms. Young, who recognizes his potential. She persuades José’s father to keep his son in the same place for his education rather than constantly moving him around so that he can reach his full potential.
After many years, José graduates and lands a job as an engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. He went on to marrying a woman named Adela, who he meets when he is buying a new car. The two go onto a build a family while José’s career finally takes off. The two have been granted with everything they need with both being successful. After being rejected from NASA over and over again, José shows up at the Nasa head quarters in person and shows how dedicated he would be to the job. In attempt to get the job José explains everything he’s done recently such as raising his kids, becoming a pilot, becoming a certified scuba diver, learning Russian, and running a marathon. This results in him being quickly hired, in which he is ready to work.
José’s journey is full of a lot of challenges, in which he must keep up with the intense training while dealing with personal losses including the death of his cousin, and mentor at NASA in a crash. Even with these obstacles, he is able to overcome them through perseverance and excel at NASA.
The movie culminates with José achieving his dream of space travel, becoming the first migrant farmworker in space.
Review
“A Million Miles Away” is an overall inspiring film, earning a solid score of 9 out of 10 from me. With a compelling performance by Michael Peña, as well as the supporting cast, it brings to life José Hernández journey. While the movie doesn’t break new ground and plays it relatively safe in terms of its storytelling, it accomplishes its main goal of telling Hernandez’ remarkable story in an accurate manner. For those seeking a solid and interesting movie, this film is certainly worth watching.
