Sandra Bullock wins rave reviews for Gravity

Sandra Bullock may’ve already won an Oscar, but she’s never received the kind of unanimous critical acclaim that came her way after new film ‘Gravity’ screened at the 70th Venice Film Festival.

The 49-year-old star was hailed for her performance as Dr. Stone, an astronaut left adrift in space after an accident on the space shuttle Explorer. George Clooney co-stars in a supporting role.

Watch Bullock in action in the heart-stopping clip above.

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Stuck in a space suit and mostly alone for the majority if the film, Bullock was hailed by The Telegraph as “the undoubted star and seriously good here, giving Stone an inner steeliness that only the very deepest pangs of despair can unsheathe”.

The Independent compared her to Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley in ‘Alien’, writing: “her character is tough and self-reliant and challenges the gender stereotyping still often found in action movies… [she] clearly relishes a physically demanding and unglamorous role as far removed from the world of Miss Congeniality as can be imagined”.

Time points out that Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron offered the part to Angelina Jolie (twice), then Natalie Portman (without an audition), Jennifer Lopez, Rachel Weisz, Marion Cotillard, Carey Mulligan, Blake Lively, Scarlett Johansson and Olivia Wilde.  They all turned it down.

We bet that lot must be kicking themselves now, with Bullock surely on course for another Oscar nomination.

It’s already been a great year for the actress, with her comedy ‘The Heat’ – which co-starred Melissa McCarthy - also earning rave reviews and making more than £134 million at the US box office.

Bullock’s career hit a lull in the mid-noughties, with a string of duds including ‘Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous’, ‘The Lake House’ and ‘Premonition’. But an Oscar for ‘The Blind Side’ in 2009 catapulted her back into Hollywood’s top tier.

‘Gravity’ is released in the UK on 8 November.