But Project Hail Mary’s self-conscious grandeur does sometimes get in its own way. The loose, sometimes flippant script is stuffed with goofy physical antics and nerdy in-jokes—yet the amusement occurs within a high-stakes, Interstellar-size space drama, outfitted with swanky visual effects and death-defying action sequences. The tonal mash-up is a tough needle to thread, though threading that needle is basically Lord and Miller’s specialty: They managed to invest some emotion and sincerity into a project as ludicrous-sounding as The Lego Movie without sacrificing any of the silliness.