i be sure thing do not exactly go the same way in the real life of homer hickam a they do in the film adaptation of his book and rocket boy and but the movie october sky ( an anagram of the book title ) be good enough to stand alone . i have not read hickam memoir and but i be still able to enjoy and understand their film adaptation . the film and direct by joe johnston and write by lewis colick and record the story of teenager homer hickam ( jake gyllenhaal ) and begin in october of 1957. it open with the sound of a radio broadcast and bring news of the russian satellite sputnik and the first artificial satellite in orbit . we see a image of a blue gray town and it people represent mostly miner work for the olga coal company . one of the miner listen to the news on a hand hold radio a he enter the elevator shaft and but the signal be lose a he disappear into the darkness and lose sight of the starry sky above him . a melancholy violin tune fade with this image . we then get a jolt of elvis on a car radio a word on the screen inform u of the set represent october 5 and 1957 and coalwood and west virginia . homer and his buddy and roy lee cook ( william lee scott ) and sherman odell ( chad lindberg ) and be talk about football tryout . football scholarship be the only way out of the town and and work in the mine and for these boy . why be the jock the only one who get to go to college and question homer . roy lee reply and theyre also the only one who get the girl . homer doesn not make it in football like his old brother and so he be destine for the mine and and to follow in his father footstep a mine foreman . until he see the dot of light streak across the october sky . then he want to build a rocket . i want to go into space and say homer . after a disastrous attempt involve a primitive rocket and his mother ( natalie canerday ) fence and homer enlist the help of the nerdy quentin wilson ( chris owen ) . quentin ask homer and what do you want to know about rocket . homer quickly anwers and everything . his science teacher at big creek high school and miss frieda riley ( laura dern ) greatly support homer and and the four boy work on build rocket in homer basement . his father and however and whose life be the mine and do not support him . john hickam ( chris cooper ) believe that homer shouldn not waste his time on the rocket and that the coal mine be all that matter . the coal from the mine be use to make steel and and without steel and the country would be nothing . the difficult relationship between homer and his dad be one of the most poignant relationship i have ever see in a film . miss riley introduces homer to the idea of enter the local science fair and with a chance to go the national and win a college scholarship . you can not just dream your way out of coalwood and she tell homer . homer and his friend act upon their dream by work constantly on the rocket and improve the model with each attempt . despite the many attempt and the boy do not lose their determination . what be the chance of u win that science fair and odell asks homer in one of their more despairing moment . a million to one and answer homer . that good . odell reply and well and why do not you say so . the music and compose by mark isham and conveys sadness and hope at the same time and especially sad at a point when homer descend into the mine shaft and lose sight of the sky and his dream of get out of coalwood . rollick 1950s rock and roll and include song by the coaster and buddy holly and occasionally push the instrumental piece aside to create a light hearted mood that contrast the teenager live with the life of the miner . the film and photograph by fred murphy and also use color to set mood and symbolize . the town of coalwood and actually film in tennessee and be wash with blue and gray and and brown . it a if the grime from the coal stick to everything face and clothes and house and and road . when a couple in a gleaming red convertible stop to ask for direction from the boy and it be obvious that they be from the world outside of coalwood and the olga coal company . the book on guided missile design that miss riley give homer be red . the red stand out enough against the blue gray world of coalwood to symbolize get out and but it be still subtle . the red be fleet hint of a world that homer only dream of . jake gyllenhaal express such zeal and hope and and pertinacity a homer hickam that it be hard to believe he isn not the real homer we see in actual footage at the end of the film . chris cooper be also extraordinarily believable a homer stubborn father and who doesn not recognize and or just doesn not want to admit and that the mine be not produce enough to keep the town alive . homer and and everyone who encourage him in his rocket building and be aware that the town be die . with the community disintegrating and the only way they stay together be by gather for the rocket boys demonstration . again and i be sure thing do not happen exactly a the movie portray them and but what would a movie be without a bit of idealism . october sky have just enough of that to make it a great motion picture and enough rawness to keep it real .