Space Cowboys (2000) review

The Russian Federation's "communications satellite" IKON is outdated and at risk of crashing into Earth, so the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) asks former U.S. Air Force test pilot Dr. Frank Corvin (Eastwood) to fix it - he helped design the technology IKON is running on - so Frank recruits long-time associates Hawk (Tommy Lee Jones), O'Neill (Donald Sutherland) and Reverend "Tank" Sullivan (James Garner) to accompany him on the mission.  The main emphasis (which is repeated incessantly) is on aging - the youthful go-getters mock Frank and his team by sending them cans of Ensure during lunch - and how doing things "the old way" is better (which fits Eastwood's conservative political ideology), but then it also wants to remind everyone that they're still "virile" too: Frank fools around with his wife in the garage, Hawk romances NASA executive Sara (Marcia Gay Harden) and O'Neill flirts with Dr. Caruthers (Blair Brown).  Its second half, which is set in outer space, is a slight improvement over the first because at least then the movie has more of a purpose: it's revealed that IKON is equipped with nuclear warheads (those sneaky Russkies!), and Hawk (who's diagnosed with pancreatic cancer) sacrifices his life for the good of the planet.  O say can you see, etc.