Review “Apollo 10½”: Patriotism and Fond Memories

America, 1968: Dad drinks beer while driving (and gets his kid to hold the steering wheel so he can pop open another). Due to reciprocal agreements, most adults have permission to paddle any children who get up to mischief, and they do so with gusto. Kids on bikes happily ride behind a truck spraying clouds of insecticide in the air. Families of seven and eight are common, so going to the beach means throwing the younglings in the back of a pickup and not worrying too much about what could go wrong. The breaking of limbs was so routine that every kid took his turn wearing a cast.

All of this is pretty disturbing, right? Nah. It’s all part of one great honey-colored, glowing American memory to writer-director Richard Linklater in his utterly charming new animated film Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood, which is showing on Netflix.

About the Author

Kyle Smith

Kyle Smith is the film critic for the Wall Street Journal.

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America, 1968: Dad drinks beer while driving (and gets his kid to hold the steering wheel so he can pop open another). Due to reciprocal agreements, most adults have permission to paddle any children who get up to mischief, and they do so with gusto. Kids on bikes happily ride behind a truck spraying clouds of insecticide in the air. Families of seven and eight are common, so going to the beach means throwing the younglings in the back of a pickup and not worrying too much about what could go wrong. The breaking of limbs was so routine that every kid took his turn wearing a cast.

All of this is pretty disturbing, right? Nah. It’s all part of one great honey-colored, glowing American memory to writer-director Richard Linklater in his utterly charming new animated film Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood, which is showing on Netflix.