If you’ve picked up on anything from the Project Hail Mary buzz – other than Ryan Gosling being absolutely brilliant in it – you’ll know his character, Ryland Grace, meets an alien who he christens Rocky. Not a spoiler (though there will be some small ones going forward in this blog should you choose to proceed), the two become friends and endeavour to save both their home planets together.
It’s an incredible book to screen adaptation, and an even more beautiful friendship that forms, and the comedic performances from both are just too good. So much so we can’t stop saying all these increasingly iconic quotes from Rocky.
If you haven’t watched Project Hail Mary yet, allow us to convince you with all the adorable things the character of Rocky says – or encourage a second viewing (perhaps in a special format). It’s amaze, amaze, amaze!
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We were all cackling over Rocky dragging Grace with his blunt questions
Rocky has this knack for taking Grace down a peg or two, and in the most endearing way, especially because he finishes every question by stating “question”. And the reality is that everything he asks, while scathing, is completely and utterly true, so we can’t really fault him, and neither can Grace.
“Why is a school teacher in space, question?”
Grace has been asking himself this question since he woke from an induced coma, Rocky just put it out into the universe.
“Why room so messy, question?”
Working out a way to come aboard the Hail Mary, Rocky rolls around in his little glorified hamster ball and is quick to judge the mess Grace has made – which partly happens at the beginning of the film when he – rightly – has a meltdown about waking up lightyears away from home.
We listen and we don’t judge… Rocky’s clearly never heard of this tactic.
“Who is Grace talking to, question?”
Another corker of a question from Rocky. Grace creates video diaries throughout the film as he and Rocky make more discoveries about astrophage and, to be fair, Rocky is an alien, so he probably just hasn’t grasped the concept of someone talking to a camera.
Rocky quotes that made us weep in Project Hail Mary
“Rocky watch whole crew die. Rocky not fix. Grace say Grace will die. Rocky fix.”
Rocky explains how he ended up alone on his spaceship after his crew died of radiation sickness, while he was protected by the astrophage in the engine room.
Having come with more astrophage than they needed, not understanding the rules of relativity, Rocky realises he can help Grace get home and, in some way, right the wrongs of the past. In turn, Grace need no longer see Project Hail Mary as a suicide mission. Cue tears.
“Rocky Grace save stars.”
The dynamic duo of the year? The decade? Maybe even the century, at this point. We would die for Rocky and Grace, and it turns out they would for each other, too. As the pair set about their mission to save both their planets and each other, Rocky’s way of putting things is just too cute.
We simultaneously related to both Rocky and Grace with this one
“Grumpy. Angry. Stupid. How long since last sleep?”
Sometimes, when you’re in a bad mood or making a lot of mistakes, all that’s called for his a little shuteye. Rocky gets it, and he’s so attuned to Grace that he can determine when the guy is sleep deprived. And he’ll let Grace know in the most backhanded way, too.
Rocky’s sentence structure is just too cute
“Fist my bump.”
Try as he might, Grace can’t get Rocky to say all phrases grammatically correct. And thank goodness, because we’ll be asking people to “fist my bump” until the day we die.
“It is time go.”
As they set off on their mission to harvest from Tau Ceti, another brilliant moment of what we’re calling Rocky syntax is delivered: “It is time go!”.
Ryan Gosling’s favourite Rocky line was completely improvised
“Rocky hate Mark.”
In an interview with Cineworld, Ryan Gosling revealed his favourite line said by Rocky in Project Hail Mary – and it turns out it was completely improvised. Thankfully the camera was rolling. In the scene, Grace is talking about a woman he once loved who left him for a guy called Mark. Gosling revealed his good friend Mark who he's worked on movies with before was on set, and it was an attempt to make him laugh, and James Ortiz (Rocky) was whipsmart with his comeback. The puppeteer behind Rocky responded exactly as the extra terrestrial would with a very deadpan, “Rocky hate Mark.”
The signature Rocky catchphrase has to be…
“Amaze amaze amaze!”
It’s how pretty much everyone is signing off their reviews of Project Hail Mary – and for good reason. The film is very much… “amaze, amaze, amaze!”
Rocky’s penchant for just about any repetition is equal amounts endearing and impressive. For example, “Dirty, dirty, dirty.” We felt that.
Project Hail Mary is so much more than just a sci-fi film and it needs to be seen to be truly appreciated. Don't sleep on this match made in heaven!
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