Ryland Grace and the narrative he occupies are fascinating to me, particularly the roles that anger and fear play for both.
This has probably been done better by other people, but I wanted to get my thoughts down.
We know Grace was incredibly angry as a younger man. Vindictively, savagely, self-destructively furious. He torpedoed his career, torched every bridge he had, and salted the earth behind him - all in defense of a theory that the viewer is unequivocally told is wrong. Astrophage has water in it; in the book, it's made clear that Eridians do, too, and that's interesting. That that rage is never vindicated.
That's not how things usually work - the abrasive young wunderkind might be completely out of line, but he's right! But PHM firmly lets that particular narrative pitfall wither on the vine, along with quite a few others.
When the film starts, Grace has spent years if not excising, then taming that anger. He is gentle, vulnerable, funny. He dresses in soft and eccentric clothing, he works with children, they love him. When Stratt brings out his thesis, he's visibly embarrassed. He is not that person anymore. He doesn't want to be.
(Relatedly, that's why I think that when he tried to literally nope out of Stratt's room of experts when asked to explain Astrophage breeding to them, it wasn't stage fright or intimidation. He was afraid of it happening again.)
Most interestingly is that when you see this in countless other stories, a man who's lost his anger and/or who is no longer working in his chosen field is a tragic, pitiable figure. He's a has-been, he's broken. Washed up. Missing something vital. But Grace isn't presented that way at all.
It is a good thing that he's not angry anymore. (The closest we get is him throwing a little tantrum in the lab after finding water in Astrophage - old wounds resurfacing, a glimpse of who he used to be, and something that's played for cringing laughs.) It's a good thing he's not that person who can't stop and think or take criticism or input or play well with others anymore, because if he were - he wouldn't have survived. Earth and Erid wouldn't have survived!
Even when it would be understandable for him to be angry, he's quickly soothed by Rocky and the pressing necessity of the situation. It's not a useful emotion for the mission or for Grace. It's made so clear that not only is this a net good, but he ends the film as a teacher again, a "lesser" job that he sees as vitally important and personally fulfilling. There was never anything wrong with him or anything missing.
Which brings me to the fear.
I feel like fear is presented as a fairly neutral emotion in the film, especially because Grace's cowardice comes through much more strongly than in the book. His initial refusal to sacrifice himself for Earth doesn't make him a villain. It's understandable, and there is no satisfaction in his being run down, tied up, knocked out, and loaded onto the Hail Mary.
If he'd made it, or if Stratt had listened to his "no," it wouldn't have made him evil...but it would have been the wrong decision for Grace personally. I don't think he could have lived with it. He would have wondered, as people died the world over, how many fewer of them there would have been if he'd gone when he were asked.
In the moment, the fear overwhelmed his ability for foresight and reasoning. Kind of like the anger did when he was younger, at the UNESCO science conference he dug his grave at.
But Grace is a man who knows how to change, how to work on himself, and how to adapt. So when he's presented with the exact same choice near the end of the story, but without anyone to force him this time, he chooses differently. He goes back for Rocky and Erid, because even though he's still afraid to die, he loves him enough to face death down voluntarily to save lives. And that brings his character arc to an immensely satisfying final resting place.
PHM is a story about a man embracing things beyond anger and fear and being a hero for it. You do not have to be angry, it's okay if you're afraid, it's okay if you're wrong. The love is enough, and you won't make it without other people.
I think that's pretty neat for a lot of reasons.
