The Big Picture

Sandler’s subtle performance and acting with a space spider make
Spaceman
intriguing.
The film struggles to make its multiple threads add up, leaving many characters on Earth underutilized.
Johan Renck’s directing and Jakob

Ihre’s

cinematography effectively create a mix of darkness and light in
Spaceman
.

At this point, it’s not surprising when Adam Sandler gives a strong performance in a drama. From the first glimpses of this in Punch-Drunk Love to the under-appreciated The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) and Hustle and, of course, the jolt of adrenaline that was Uncut Gems, it’s entirely possible that Sandler has found more consistency as a dramatic actor than as a comedian. But even when Sandler is taking on more serious roles, there are some consistencies between these and his funnier roles. Sandler likes to play characters prone to angry outbursts, as if no matter what, his characters are ticking time bombs, ready to explode. It’s also rare to see Sandler without someone to play off: there’s always a Drew Barrymore/Kevin James/David Spade, etc for him to react to.

This is what makes Spaceman, from Chernobyl director Johan Renck, such a deviation from Sandler’s previous outings as a dramatist. Spaceman is a film that relies on an insular, solo performance from Sandler, a quieter performance that we’ve ever seen from the actor, in a film that is undoubtedly one of his strangest projects. Spaceman is a bit too meandering for its own good, and without the wonder that it clearly wants to create, but amongst all of that is further proof that Sandler is growing as an actor. It’s fascinating to watch.

What Is ‘Spaceman’ About?

Spaceman, based on the Jaroslav Kalfař book Spaceman of Bohemia, begins on the 189th day of a solo trip to the outskirts of Jupiter. There, we meet Jakub Procházka (Sandler), an astronaut from the Czech Republic who is 500 kilometers away from home, investigating the Chopra cloud—an anomaly that only showed up four years ago. Early on, Jakub has a video press conference from space, where a girl asks him if he’s the loneliest man in the world. While Jakub laughs this off, it’s more apt to say he’s the loneliest man in the galaxy. Jakub mostly talks to Peter (Kunal Nayyar) at mission command, complaining about his noisy toilet, while the messages from his pregnant wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan) have stopped.

Actually, the last message she sent said that she was leaving him, and going off to her mother, Zdena (Lena Olin). But that message is intercepted and stopped by Commissioner Tuma (Isabella Rossellini), who doesn’t want that type of stress on Jakub. But for Jakub, Lenka’s silence speaks volumes, as he knows the stress his marriage has been under as he’s gone off on these missions. Among the stresses of the mission, the banging toilet, his inability to sleep, and the lack of messages from Lenka, Jakub receives a visitor: a giant spider that has seemingly appeared out of nowhere, which Jakub names Hanuš (voiced by Paul Dano). As the film states several times, “When you’re alone, you think,” and that’s exactly what Jakub does alongside Hanuš, as Jakub thinks back to his early days with his wife, what went wrong, and even further back, to his tragic childhood. As Jakub gets closer to the Chopra cloud—which could lead to answers to how the universe began—Jakub looks back at what brought him to where he is today.

‘Spaceman’ Sets Up Plenty That It Doesn’t Pay Off
Image via Netflix

Spaceman only works in fits and starts, attempting to be an almost Eternal Solaris of the Spotless Mind—a mixture of odd, unexplainable sci-fi tropes and remembrance of a relationship that needs to be saved. Jakub’s mission never has much of an urgency to it (even though we’re told the South Koreans are on his tail), and once we do start to explore the mysteries of the Chopra cloud, its attempts to put its audience in awe fall flat. There are fragments of good, intriguing ideas here and there, but there are just minor touchstones within the love story that is the primary focus.

Even a bigger shame is the wasted talent back at home. Mulligan is left behind to sadly look out windows and ponder her new direction in life without Jakub. Like the character of Lenka, she only comes to life when we look back at her early days with Jakub as their love was first beginning, full of unfulfilled promise. Fairing even worse is Olin, who only gets a few scenes to question her daughter’s choice and sit quietly in dark rooms with her.

Image via Netflix

The screenplay by Colby Day also features plenty of compelling concepts that are mentioned, then don’t pay off in any successful way—half-assed ideas that have nowhere to go. For example, there is a fun runner about the corporate sponsorships that keep this program afloat, as Jakub has to occasionally mention projects he needs in space before he uses them. But beyond showing they’re occurring, this doesn’t quite go anywhere. Similarly, Rossellini and Nayyar, with their plan to keep Jakub in the dark about his marriage, are mostly accepted and moved past, while Rossellini’s performance borders between doing what’s best and a sinister nature that never has any sort of resolution. Maybe the most disappointing of these angles comes in exploring Jakub’s childhood. We get brief glimpses of his father and the terrible man he was, but again, Spaceman moves away from this quickly to refocus on the troubles between Jakub and Lenka.

Renck’s directing is at least compelling —especially in space—as it remains always moving, floating alongside Jakub and Hanuš as they dig through the memories. The cinematography by Jakob Ihre (also of Chernobyl, as well as Oslo, August 31st and The End of the Tour) is always just the right mixture of grimy darkness and the promise of a light at the end of this journey’s tunnel, with the purple, glowing Chopra looming in the distance. Some of Spaceman’s best moments rely solely on imagery without dialogue, as in an early scene where we see Jakub in his spacesuit exploring what looks to be a foreign planet. We’re told that he’ll die if he takes off his helmet, yet with the trees and water which all feel so natural, it’s almost as though Jakub has come all this way to find his way back home. Similarly, while the third-act attempts to wow don’t always work, the visuals within this segment are more effective than the scene’s dialogue.

Adam Sandler’s Subtle Performance Makes ‘Spaceman’ Worth Watching
Image via Netflix

But, oh yeah, this is a film about Adam Sandler and a giant space spider! After a first hour that (understandably!) has Jakub wary about his arachnid visitor, Spaceman starts to find its groove once these two investigate Jakub’s history—even if it comes at the cost of other threads and characters getting some much-deserved attention. It’s never made quite clear if Hanuš is a creation of Jakub’s mind or not, and it frankly doesn’t matter, as he’s primarily just a catalyst to get to these thoughts that Jakub came to space to avoid. These are the moments when Day’s screenplay finds its strength. When this isn’t about space or spiders, it’s simply about a man wondering where his relationship went wrong. Spaceman has a high-concept trapping, but with a story that couldn’t be simpler and relatable.

Dano’s gentle voice is soothing amongst the coldness of space and his performance plays well off Sandler. But it’s Sandler who makes Spaceman truly worthwhile, a nuanced role that gives the emotion it needs, without going overboard. There’s no reason for Sandler’s Jakub to show anger or fear the way that Sandler’s other characters usually do (Jakub distinctly mentions that he never feels fear), and even though he has Hanuš to discuss things with, for Sandler, it’s impressive to see what he can do in a role that largely asks him to be alone with his thoughts. At this point, we all know that Sandler is quite good at dramas, but with films like Spaceman, it’s exciting to watch him test himself in ways like this, slightly moving away from the types of roles that we expect him to play—even in his dramatic roles.

Spaceman struggles with making all of its threads add up to something, and this could’ve easily taken place on Earth, with a lonely man questioning where his life went wrong, which would save this from being only a moderately interesting space film as it is. Spaceman is often attempting things and not quite getting there. However, when this focuses on the love story, as explored through Jakub and Hanuš, there’s a lovely earnestness to Spaceman. It’s in these moments when the rest of the film’s faults wash away, finding a tone that sometimes contains all the wonder that the space side of this story can’t nail. Spaceman is a rocky journey, but in times like these and thanks to Sandler’s performance, it’s often worth the trip.

Spaceman REVIEWSpaceman, from Johan Renck, is a bit of a spacey mess, but when the film focuses on a subtle performance by Adam Sandler digging into his past, it mostly works.ProsAdam Sandler gives one of the most subtle performances of the year, in a role that asks him to act alongside a space spider.Renck’s directing and Jakob Ihre’s cinematography find a good mix of darkness and light. ConsCarey Mulligan and basically everyone back on earth is wasted without much of a story for any of them.Colby Day’s screenplay suggests interesting deviations for this story, but never quite knows how to pay those off.

Spaceman is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S. starting March 1.

WATCH ON NETFLIX