“The Astronaut” review: A sci-fi story with little to offer

Adam Sandler finds himself in no man’s land. He has some brilliant moments in silly physical comedies like Happy Gilmore, released in 1996. On the other hand, he turned out to be an interesting enough actor to be considered as a candidate during awards season. IN Diamonds in the rough brothers Ben and Josh Safdie, turned out to be not only a solvent dramatic performer. At the same time, the opportunity to delve deeper into a character type full of dark spots.

Something similar happens in Astronautavailable on Netflix. Sandler plays Jakub, a loner on a scientific mission. Book adaptation Bohemia Cosmonaut Jaroslav Kalfar’s film explores an unusual perspective on space adventure. Namely: what happens when an event, essentially scientific, is mixed with the emotions of a person who must draw accurate conclusions about what is happening.

Director Johan Renck gives the film a melancholic and ramshackle feel, full of ocher tones and silent scenes. To the other end. Colby Day’s script then wastes a lot of time: detail how Jakub faces the fear of an unexplained cosmic event and his own horrors.

On this occasion, the actor explores his most reserved and dark side. In a complex scenario, the planet encounters a cosmic phenomenon that no one fully understands. The Chopra cloud, a type of sediment condensation that has no explanation, has been floating above the Earth for four years. Therefore, in the midst of the paranoia it caused, the countries of the globe united. With a certain air For all mankind The Apple TV+ plot then shows the various missions this hypothetical present sets itself. Including the type of equipment with problems thatThis puts a special race at the brink of human error.

A man who risks his life for knowledge

Funded by impoverished Eastern Europe, Jakub’s mission is a far cry from modern star travel in North America. Thus, the character will have to deal with last-minute technical glitches, doors being forced open, and the possibility that a mechanical error could cost him his life. But despite this, he is convinced of the need to study everything that revolves around the Earth. The plot requires an almost tragic fatalism from the actor. Jakub knows that something can go wrong, and most likely it will. But Sandler fails to show pain or feeling beyond general anxiety.. We know his character is suffering.

However, the translator has so little opportunity to show the reasons for this feeling that the film focuses more on his frowning face. The Astronaut’s plot lacks the depth to analyze what it requires of its actor. So for the first hour, the collection of frontal shots of the troubled protagonist and the almost everyday problems he goes through becomes exhausting. The film requires patience to finally get to the complex event in which he is the center of the conflict and which becomes increasingly strange as the plot progresses.

On the one hand, the film shows a human perspective on Jakub, who is going through a divorce in the midst of his special investigation. His wife Lenka (Carey Mulligan) is determined to change the relationship that was broken from the very beginning. But the actress’s efforts to show how her character struggles with the countless obstacles of bureaucracy are credible and add depth to this human drama. There is not much time either: then the plot begins to tell about the inexplicable situation that Yakub is experiencing.

Impossible find in “Astronaut”

Alone for almost three months, sleepless and increasingly stressed by everything happening around him, Jakub begins to suffer from hallucinations. They just may not exist. The spider that pops out of his mouth and suddenly tells him in a cautious tone that “this is real” may be a consequence of the cosmic mystery he is investigating. At least that’s what the script suggests. But he does it so clumsily that while the creature is talking with Jakub (voiced by Paul Dano), the feeling that this is a hallucination does not subside.

Little by little, Astronaut It tries to mix philosophical musings with the tension of a spaceship emergency with realistic overtones. However, it fails to maintain a balance between both tropes and ends up being an annoying fantasy twist on a sci-fi setting. It doesn’t really help that Adam Sandler doesn’t know what to do with his character.

Whether to look devastated by the loss of life on Earth or amazed by a big discovery. The actor, who has otherwise managed to bring out his inner restlessness in challenging roles, fails to do so in this introspective story with pessimistic overtones. This brings the entire film into the same neutral territory as the actor’s performance.