Spaceman REVIEW – Blank Space

Spaceman is a bit of a mixed bag. It has some things going for it, like its arresting visuals and interesting premise. What lets it down is that it telegraphs its message in the most heavy-handed way possible. Instead of letting the characters actually explore their arcs in authentic ways, the path is fairly apparent from the get-go. It’s a shame really, because using actual space as a medium to explore a failing relationship is rife with possibilities. Instead we head down a rather soulless path, which feels ironic given the film’s desire to impart the universe’s wisdom.

Adam Sandler plays Jakub, a man sent for a year’s expedition into deep space to find out more about the chopra cloud, a phenomenon that is turning the Earth’s skies purple. From the get-go, his exhaustion and crippling loneliness is plain for all to see. This is thanks to Sandler’s talents, who manages to convey Jakub’s heavy interior despite him floating around in zero gravity. Not only is Jakub all alone on the spacecraft, his pregnant wife Lenka (Carey Mulligan) has gone silent on him, which has plunged him into a depressive state. We discover that her silence is because she sent him a message about separating, but space control doesn’t want to pass along the message because they fear that it could jeopardize the mission.

We learn that even before Jakub went to space, he left his wife alone in their marriage. Despite her frequent attempts to reach out and connect with him, he’s never allowed himself to, instead prioritising his ambitions over his personal relationship. In the midst of his experience of loneliness, a sudden visitor shows up in his spacecraft, a spider Jakub names Hanuš (Paul Dano). He can’t quite discern if Hanuš is a figment of his mind, or if he’s real creature from another planet, but in his lonely state, he decides this doesn’t matter. What ensues is a series of therapy sessions between Jakub and Hanuš.

Dano does a wonderful job with the voice acting for Hanuš. The creature gives off this aura of wisdom, but also has a certain child-like awe when Jakub shares certain things with it, like the rich, chocolatey goodness of Nutella. For Dano to convey all this through just his voice is really superb, and he manages to humanize a creature that most of us would find terrifying.

Despite the film’s focus being on Jakub and Lenka’s relationship, there just isn’t enough material for us to feel connected to these characters and their relationship. When we’re shown past memories of their relationship, it’s hard to see what exactly drew Lenka to this taciturn man who doesn’t show her a modicum of affection. She mentions briefly that she was attracted to his ambition, but this isn’t apparent through their half-baked conversations. Even Lenka’s conversation with her mother feels like it’s made of air, where nothing of substance is said.

In a film like this, there has to be a moment of emotional catharsis, with both Jakub and Lenka arriving at conclusions about their relationship. Jakub goes through this but it feels contrived, and we don’t even get Lenka’s side of things. Weirdly enough, this kind of feels like Sandler’s previous movie Click, with both characters making similar choices when it comes to life and relationships.

Spaceman is too obvious in the way it communicates its main themes and ideas, and moves in a snail-like, comatose fashion, so much so that you might find yourself in the deep space of sleep by the end.

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Verdict

Spaceman tries too hard to be profound, telling us how life should be lived, instead of letting the film's visuals and narrative flesh this out in a nuanced way.

5.5