18.4.24
Spaceman is an interesting and ambitious sci-fi offering that deserves credit for tackling such an abstract, metaphysical premise. Director Johan Renck takes a big swing, and while it doesn’t deliver a fully convincing philosophical message, Adam Sandler’s committed lead performance keeps the film at an accessible level free of pretence.
The high-concept setup follows a depressed astronaut Jakub (Sandler) grappling with his crumbling relationship while on a solitary research mission light years from Earth. In a fantastical twist, he ends up conversing with a cosmic entity in the form of a giant spider (Paul Dano), attempting to work through his marital woes. It’s an oddball comedy premise, but one that isn’t played for laughs as it may suggest on paper.
The decision to set the film within a fictionalised Czech space program lends an intriguing sense of unfamiliarity and distance from more traditional American counterparts. Sandler does a questionable job affecting an Eastern European accent, as it wavers at times into his signature New York cadence. Paul Dano, providing the resonant voice of the primordial spider Hanuš, is an inspired choice that imbues the outlandish character with an otherworldly, yet unthreatening presence.
While Sandler stretches himself admirably here, the same can’t be said for his co-star Carey Mulligan as his wife Lenka. Her performance feels underwritten and one-note, a letdown considering her proven dramatic talents. In hindsight, the stunning cosmic visuals, like the beautifully purple Chopra dust cloud, could have been experienced on the big screen rather than streamed at home. But such is the reality of film viewing nowadays. Spaceman won’t be for everyone, but it deserves points for narrative ambition and exploring marriage anxieties through an imaginative sci-fi angle.