October Sky

October Sky is a 1999 American biographical film directed by Joe Johnston, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Chris Owen, and Laura Dern. It is based on the true story of Homer H. Hickam, Jr., a coal miners son who was inspired by the launch of Sputnikin 1957 to take up rocketry against his fathers wishes, and who eventually became a NASA engineer. Most of the film was shot in rural East Tennessee, including Oliver Springs, Harriman and Kingston in Morgan and Roane counties. The movie mostly received a positive critical reception and is still celebrated in the regions of its setting and filming.citation needed

The film is set in Coalwood, West Virginia in October 1957. The coal mine is the towns largest employer and almost every man living in the town works in the mines. John Hickam Chris Cooper, the mine superintendent, loves his job and hopes that his boys, Jim Scott Miles and Homer Hickam Jake Gyllenhaal, will one day join him in his mine. When it appears that Jim will receive a football scholarship to attend college, this leaves Homer to fulfill his fathers dream, although his mother, Elsie Natalie Canerday, hopes for more for her son.In October, news of the Soviet Unions rocket launch of Sputnikreaches Coalwood. As the townspeople gather outside on the night of the broadcast, they see the satellite orbit across the sky. Filled with awe and a belief that this may be his chance to get out of Coalwood, Homer sets out to build rockets of his own and enter the science fair, writing about his progress to Dr. Wernher von Braun, one of the head engineers at NASA. Initially, his family and later his classmates think he has gone crazy and is wasting his time, especially when he teams up with Quentin Wilson Chris Owen, the schools math geek who also has an interest in rocket engineering. With the help of his friends, Roy Lee Cooke William Lee Scott and Sherman ODell Chad Lindberg, and support from their science teacher, Miss Riley Laura Dern, the four try out their new passion. While their first launches are failures, they begin experimenting with new fuels and rocket designs. After several successful launches, the local paper runs a story about them. ........

Source: Wikipedia