From “Interstellar” to “Gravity”, via “Apollo 13”, or “2001, A Space Odyssey”, history has shown that the conquest of space can inspire very good films.
“Spaceman” does not fall into this category.
In this feature film, released online this Friday, March 1 on Netflix, Swedish director Johan Renck seems much less inspired than for the formidable Craig Mazin series “Chernobyl” which he directed.
“Spaceman” tells the story of Jakub (Adam Sandler), a Czech astronaut commissioned by his country to investigate a cloud of stardust at the edge of the solar system.
The head of mission (Isabella Rossellini) puts pressure on him, because the South Koreans are hot on his heels.
But alone, up there, time is long.
Jakub takes the opportunity to take stock of his life.
He must admit that his relationship with his wife Lenka (Carey Mulligan) is no longer in good shape.
Then a strange creature arrives, Hanus, a sort of giant tarantula from another galaxy who starts talking to him and becomes his friend.
Arachnophobes, move on!
Because the extra-terrestrial beast that becomes Jakub's friend is absolutely terrifying and it's hard to get used to the presence of this tarantula lookalike.
When she speaks and gives great life lessons, eating spread with the help of her long hairy legs, we hesitate between laughing and disgust, it seems so improbable and ridiculous.
The creature comes to play psychologist.
Jakub gets attached to it.
Thanks to her, the scientist realizes the importance of preserving his relationship and that this mission, becoming secondary, was for him only a way of escaping reality.
But when Hanus throws out pseudo-metaphysical sentences in his voice from beyond the grave like “Everything is permanent, but nothing ever is”, we say to ourselves that all this is not very serious.
Added to all this is the extreme slowness of the shots and the haunting music that puts us to sleep.
We yawn, a lot.
The charm of Carey Mulligan, largely underexploited, barely works.
We have tenderness for this man, entangled in his solitude, completely lost, who sees his beloved escape.
But nothing in these scenes in the middle of space or in the flat and boring flashbacks of Jakub's previous life, entangled in counter psychology, is worth dwelling on in this film.
Editor's note:
1.5/5
“Spaceman”,
a film by Johan Renck with Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Isabella Rossellini (1h48) on Netflix.