I didn’t like it at all...the plot was space accident with lots of noisy cinematic effects until she, the lone survivor, gets back to earth. And a cameo appearance by Geo. Clooney. I suppose it shows the triumph of the human spirit or something, but I’d prefer a more meaty plot, with interaction throughout with another instead of talking to herself. I never liked that Tom Hanks movie where he’s marooned by himself on an island either...so admit perhaps its me, as everyone else raves about it.
There was a Korean movie about a guy getting marooned on an island, in the middle of Seoul in the Han River. The only person who noticed was a recluse girl who never left her room using her telescope.
2 minute trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUBz5xfbl0c
Castaway on the Moon
Yes, the larger significance of this movie is an interesting question. The most obvious idea is the triumph of feminism, in the person of Ms. Bullock. I was struck by her exultative gesturing at the end, which was of course justified in the context by the fact of her survival. But you could see something of the passing of the baton in her relationship with "Matt", with the action representing a sort of self-emasculation, not to get too theoretical.
There is a DISCOVERY( channel, I guess ) review, WHY GRAVITY DOESN'T SUCK which tries to put the imprimatur of Science on the movie, but this involves a fair amount of foot-dragging. The reviewer opines that it may be an alternative reality, and I think this is surely the case. In fact, this entails the idea of a LAMENT for the decline or demise of manned space exploration, which the plot device of the movie enforces.
"Bear with me, my heart is in the coffin there with Caesar"
My point about that I would like it even if it was a silent film meant that the special effects were what I was impressed with. Clooney was a cartoon of himself and the rest of what you said is accurate.
As far as Tom Hanks he is like a lot of actors, they have a gift for remembering things then saying them at the right time the right way. But at the end of the day they are now more intelligent than a parrot but well paid for being one:)