TMS Movie Review: Spaceman

(Netflix)

Once in a while, I’ll check out a new movie—in this case Johan Renck’s Spaceman—just because I like the cast, even if the word of mouth isn’t too great. Spaceman stars Adam Sandler—who is a pretty good dramatic actor when he isn’t making comedy schlock with his pals—the always wonderful Carey Mulligan, ever reliable character actor Paul Dano and even Sandler’s younger daughter Sunny, with her own acting potential. Renck has directed many popular TV episodes and music videos, so his visual style should be at least interesting here. But unfortunately, Spaceman is a reminder of how recruiting talent doesn’t always result in a good product.

Middle aged scientist-turned-astronaut Jakub Prochazka (Sandler) is operating a one-man mission to investigate unidentified clouds, dusts and other particles just beyond Jupiter. While alone in the spaceship, Jakub is gradually becoming depressed as his wife Lenka (Mulligan) ignores him when he chooses to go to space before their future daughter is born. One day, Jakub’s sanity is tested when he sees a very vivid, real looking, giant spider (Dano) roaming around the ship in 0 gravity.

(Netflix)

Isabella Rossellini and Lena Olin also co-star as Jakub’s commanding officer back home and Lenka’s mother. Spaceman is based on Jaroslav Kalfař’s 2017 novel Spaceman of Bohemia and adapted by Colby Day. The new sci-fi drama has been getting comparisons to films like Andre Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972), Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014), Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival (2016), and James Gray’s Ad Astra (2019) because of its existential family themes aboard a galactical setting. As much as I hate to say it, Renck’s new movie is one of those times where you could have just revisited the previous, already good features. Calling a movie boring is generally one of the lazier criticisms to give, but that’s mostly what I felt while watching Spaceman. I didn’t find the characters or conflict interesting and the giant talking spider serving as expository therapist was too gimmicky for me. Dano’s voiceover delivery is soothing, but also feels like it belongs in a Terrence Malick picture. All of the characters are supposed to be Czech, yet Sandler attempts only a mild, vague Euro accent and everyone else keeps their natural voices. Sometimes a cast can make up for the less than impressive project they’re a part of, but sadly, that’s not the case here.