I enjoyed Interstellar but it seemed rather unfocused as if Nolan had so many related ideas to cram into the story that he couldn't choose one way to go. I feel as if this movie would have benefited from the treatment given to Inception's script: left in a bedstand drawer for 10 years, occasionally pulled out and rewritten.
Overall, Nolan is still looking at the themes we have seen in his other original movies like Memento and Inception: why do we choose truth or lies, how love and people define us, and what drives us to be our best or worst selves. Early on I kept thinking of M. Night Shyamalan's Signs and although this movie goes in a very different direction, I'm not sure that was a wrong unconscious turn of my mind. Both movies are their directors' musings about humanity and what matters most deeply to each of us.
There were many things I enjoyed about this which I can't discuss without spoilers. Although one thing I CAN mention is that my husband's first comment upon leaving the theater was, "Jonathan Nolan just can't tell a story without using books these days, can he?" (Referring to an essential device from Person of Interest.) That hadn't occurred to me but it is very true. I also loved that two of the books whose spines we do see are The Stand and one by Arthur Conan Doyle (title unshown). These also provided food for thought...
Also, last but not least: best robot ever. Especially the design. Best. Ever.
