It's becoming all too obvious to his fans that perhaps Clint Eastwood shouldn't be allowed to make movies unless they feature cowboy characters or at least have the word "cowboy" in the title.

Though the far-fetched but sporadically entertaining "Space Cowboys" doesn't really rank up there with his finest work as a filmmaker, it's definitely the most appealing thing the squinty-eyed director has made since 1992's "Unforgiven."

This odd hybrid of comedy, science-fiction and action-thriller genres touches at times on "The Right Stuff," "Grumpy Old Men" and "Armageddon," among many others. But the reason this could-have-been-a-clunker works as well as it does is the dream cast of aging actors — Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner, in addition to Clint himself.

The four star as the title characters, members of U.S. Air Force Team Daedalus who were denied their chance to reach the stars more than 40 years ago. They've since scattered to different parts of the country, but none has lost his desire to go into space.

Thanks to Ikon, a malfunctioning Russian satellite that's threatening to plummet back to Earth, they get their chance. It turns out the satellite uses 30-year-old guidance-system technology that was designed by Daedalus member Frank Corvin (Eastwood).

However, when NASA bureaucrat and longtime nemesis Bob Gerson (James Cromwell) comes to him asking for help, Frank has his own demands — namely, that he and the other members of his original team be allowed to go up in a space shuttle to make the repairs.

There could be a couple of complications, though. First, Frank has to mend fences with his old friends and former colleagues. Then, the four sixtysomethings have to meet NASA's rigorous physical standards for its astronauts.

But there may be an even bigger problem — Gerson and the Russian government aren't disclosing the real purpose of the satellite, or the even more startling reason it needs to be repaired.

Admittedly, the pacing is somewhat leisurely, and the whole concept here is pretty preposterous. However, if there's a serious problem with the film, it's not with either the director and cast but with the script, by newcomer Howard Klausner and journeyman screenwriter Ken Kaufman.

Much of the action takes place off-camera and is simply referred to by the characters, while the training sequences seem to take up much more time than the by-the-numbers, outer-space action scenes.

And to be honest, the whole thing would probably flame out if not for the veteran cast. Eastwood has a good time poking fun at his age, as does Jones — and the goofy Sutherland makes a serious bid to steal the film out from under the two leads. Oddly, the one almost left out of the mix is the always-personable Garner, whose character is the least developed.

"Space Cowboys" is rated PG-13 for occasional profanity, violence (two fistfights, as well as some sci-fi violence), brief nudity (male backsides) and brief vulgarity (some crude humor). Running time: 123 minutes.

---

E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com