Based on the true story of José Hernández’s incredible story of his journey to becoming an astronaut was released to Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 15.
Audiences are praising the film, “A Million Miles Away,” as it has a 96% audience score and an 88% critic score making it certified fresh on the Rotten Tomato meter.
Out of five stars, I would give the film five out of five stars for how exceptionally well executed it delivered the story to captivate people’s hearts.
The film is certainly a tearjerker for some not because it’ll make you sad but because it fills you with joy and pride.
José Hernández a Mexican farmworker who dreamed of being an astronaut never gave up on his dream no matter how unreachable many said his dream was.
Throughout the movie, it exemplified the stigmas and stereotypes many people see Mexicans as.
After graduating college Hernández would go on to become a lab engineer and on his first day the receptionist thought that because he was Mexican, he got hired to be a janitor.
Brushing him off and not taking him seriously, Hernández had to prove to his boss that he was worth much more than he thought and that he did.
With his wife by his side supporting his every decision Hernández applied to be an astronaut for NASA.
After being rejected he went over all the qualities he didn’t possess of the candidates that got accepted to be astronauts and trained to be good at every single one to inflate his resume and make it more likely he would get accepted by NASA the next time he applied.
Hernández would do this every time he got rejected and after 11 applications all of which he was rejected on the 12th try they accepted him.
Hernández was finally given the opportunity to be second in command on the space shuttle Discovery, accomplishing his dream.
Michael Peña who portrays José Hernández and Rosa Salazar as his wife Adela Hernandez both did an amazing job captivating the emotions and portraying the real Jose and Adela Hernandez.
The directors of the movie captured the hearts of Mexicans with the visuals and engraved in people’s minds how persistent and hardworking Mexicans are no matter the odds.
This movie is a heart warmer and proves to not just Mexicans but everyone that no matter how farfetched you think your dream is, it is always in reach with a little bit of hard work and perseverance.
Hernandez never gave up and kept persevering to reach his dream until he finally reached and proved to Mexicans that ‘Si se puede.’
