October Sky (1999) **

Directed by Joe Johnston. With Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Owen and Laura Dern. In 1957, while Sputniks are flying across the sky, scaring Yankee imperialists out of their wits, a young lad from West Virginia has to choose between mining coal or designing rockets for NASA. Fortunately, it takes him almost two hours to decide, so in the meantime we can admire a very fine example of apple-pie Americana, soiled somewhat by a sprinkle of coal dust, but solidly directed and acted.