The Astronaut's Wife

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The Astronaut's Wife

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The Astronaut's Wife

Blair Brown, Charlize Theron, Clea DuVall, Cole Sprouse, Donna Murphy

An intriguingly creepy premise but failed execution marks this stylish and ultimately bland thriller about a pretty, young woman whose pretty, young astronaut husband comes back from his most recent s...( read more  read more... )pace mission a little... odd. Before that fated space trip, Spencer (Johnny Depp) and Jillian (Charlize Theron) were a sunny, happy couple with matching blonde hairdos and a predilection for romping in the sack from extremely clever camera angles. However, after a communications blackout brings Spencer and his partner back down to earth prematurely, things are a little... peculiar. Spencer's partner goes bonkers and has a heart attack; on top of that, the partner's wife takes a fatal shower with a plugged-in radio. Getting out of the space biz, Spencer accepts a job as a corporate exec in New York, and as a welcome to the Big Apple for his comely wife, he molests her at the company cocktail party. Soon enough, Jillian is pregnant, but as you might expect, this pregnancy (twins, don't you know) is a little... unusual. Writer-director Rand Ravich takes his sweet time getting from extremely obvious plot point A to even more obvious plot point B, stretching out the development particulars in mind-numbing, suspense-killing fashion. Even Joe Morton, as a sinisterly psychotic NASA official, can't liven things up--you know you're in bad thriller territory when the biggest scare comes from a light suddenly being switched off. Theron, sporting a Mia Farrow-Rosemary's Baby haircut, sleepwalks beautifully through the movie, but she did this role much, much better in The Devil's Advocate. Depp, with a cornpone Southern accent, is about as realistic as his peroxided hair. Ravich does the viewer no favors with a hackneyed ending straight out of a B-grade paperback horror novel in which the most shocking moment is Theron's sudden emergence as a brunette. With Blair Brown as a jaded socialite who offers to help out Theron by providing do-it-yourself abortion pills, and a lovely Donna Murphy as the suicidal wife who figures it all out before everyone else. --Mark Englehart

Id: 10900342

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The Astronaut's Wife Recent Reviews
  • SirPant
    September 23, 2009
    SirPant
    It had is intense moments but at the end of the day it was a wasted idea!
  • thmtsang
    June 29, 2008
    thmtsang
    Creepy thriller about the aftermath of an astronaut's return from outer space.
  • DeppLover
    June 13, 2008
    DeppLover
    "Now you just keep quiet, and you rest. I'm here with you. I'm always going to be here Jillian. Always."

    The Astronaut's Wife was a film I saw for Johnny Depp, and that reason only. If he wasn't included in this cast then I would have no intention of watching this, and ...( read more)I had low expectations despite the fact that it has in my eyes the greatest actor of all time included in the cast. It was a pleasant surprise for me when this film ended and I gathered my thoughts, as I realized that it wasn't actually half bad. Sure, there are some flaws and things I disliked about The Astronaut's Wife, but it has proven to be a pretty decent thriller.

    Johnny Depp is Spencer Armacost, an astronaut who loses contact with NASA when on a mission at the beginning of this suspenseful film. For those two minutes it becomes a mystery as to what really happened, but it is stated by NASA that an explosion occurred while repairing a satellite. Meanwhile Spencer's wife, Jillian, and his partner's wife are left in confusion and emotions about what happened, and the viewers know no more than they do about what has happened. Shortly after the astronauts are rescued, and safely returned back to earth. The news is all good for Spencer, but for the other astronaut there comes some bad news not long after the pair's return to Earth.
    But that is only the start of the complications. Spencer and Jillian then move to New York to accept Spencer's new job offer, and then it isn't long before Jill becomes pregnant. As time goes on we notice sudden changes in Spencer's personality and realise that he isn't quite the same as he was before the contact was lost for those two minutes. As Jillian notices, we notice more changes as well. Jillian must make decisions that affect her relationship with her husband and eventually find out exactly what happened for that short and eventful time in outer space.

    The plot is original to say the least, but there were still times when I started wondering where it was going. It seemed as if it delivered the chills and suspense where it was needed, and the various sneers from Spencer make his overall character quite chilling and unsettling. For most of the film the information and discoveries were made at the right time in the plot, giving it more realism and effectiveness. The ending was absolutely and incredibly unique, giving an exceptional view on the events. If possible, watch the alternate ending. Looking back on it now, I like the alternate a lot better. It gives more of an insight and ends the film on a higher note than the other ending. There was really only one main aspect of the film that I particularly disliked, and that was the constant shots of the babies towards the end. The Astronaut's Wife could have done a lot better without them, but nonetheless; there were many dodgy effects despite when this was made. For most of the film it wasn't too distracting though I must admit, mostly it was held together by the interesting plot and powerful acting.

    Johnny Depp certainly made Spencer Armacost one defying and creepy character. Although he wasn't the only reason this film has succeeded my expectations, he certainly was the one who held it together. He gave a brilliant and electrifying performance and maintains my view of his acting talent. Charlize Theron wasn't half bad, and gave a pretty good performance considering she usually doesn't quite satisfy me. She portrayed Jillian's emotions intensely and I can now say that I admire her more as an actress. Joe Morton gave a great performance through my eyes, he was someone I'm not too familiar with.. and yet I found him to be quite exhilarating. Clea DuVall was... well, Clea DuVall. Nothing beyond average from her, or from the rest of the cast.

    The Astronaut's Wife was overall a pretty decent and effective thriller. It combines Sci-Fi with horror/thrills and does it highly effectively. I can't say that this is a perfect film, but I found it to be definitely worth watching, so I therefore recommend it to anyone interested. If you give this film the attention it needs and look beyond what you would expect, you should find yourself thinking that this is an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours.
  • PvtCaboose91
    April 24, 2008
    PvtCaboose91
    "He's not your husband, not anymore."


    The Astronaut's Wife had two things going for it that eventually persuaded me to commit to a screening.

    One is that it's a thriller. I love watching thrillers that can successfully send a chill down my spine and was an

    ...( read more)xious to see if the filmmakers had done a good job this time.

    The other thing, of course, is Johnny Depp in the lead role. I make no effort to hide the fact that I admire Depp because he is a versatile actor capable of executing any role if he puts his mind to it.

    When I read the synopsis for The Astronaut's Wife I thought it had potential and sounded quite chilling, although I couldn't shake off the feeling of déjà vu in relation to Roman Polanski's classic horror film Rosemary's Baby. And so I settled in with lunch and a great friend of mine to watch this thriller.

    Regrettably I must have raised my expectations too high because the film turned out to be quite dreadful. This film had a very intriguing concept but ultimately failed in its execution.

    The Astronaut's Wife is a trip into clichéd territory where the scares are predictable and the characters are stupid. The writer/director appears to have no problem with travelling from obvious plot point A to even more obvious plot point B. I lost count of the plot holes and loose ends that are never addressed.

    There isn't much you can say about the plot without spoiling the whole thing (not that it would be a bad thing - by all means save 100 mins of your life for something more productive) so I will attempt to outline the plot with very little detail. An astronaut named Spencer (Depp) leaves his wife Jillian (Theron) to embark on a mission into space. After a lapse in communication following a mysterious problem, Spencer returns home to his wife in good health.

    But Jillian soon realises that her husband has gone rather peculiar since he returned from his dangerous mission; acting strangely and never wishing to discuss what happened while in space. Although I didn't go into much detail, you can pretty much predict what is going to happen from there.

    The film is sort of a cross between Rosemary's Baby and perhaps a little bit of Species II mixed with The Omen. The combination could have produced something a little better quality than this ineffective thriller that missed all opportunities to be something decent.

    The cast were at least some compensation for bad scripting. Johnny Depp steers away from all his prior characters; developing something fresh and innovative. It seems that Johnny tried to add some intensity to his character. This is ultimately let down by some poor filmmaking. The editing and cinematography, not to mention the special effects, are what I refer to in that statement.

    Charlize Theron sports a haircut that suitably mirrors Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby. Like Depp, she tried and you have to give her credit. There were some scenes when the terror in her performance seems genuine.

    One of my central complaints about the film is that evidence is sometimes spilt out far too blatantly. From about an hour into the movie we know that the crazy ravings of Joe Morton's character are going to be right; and can suitably predict the film's subsequent events. I thought it was tradition for thrillers to spill the beans a few scenes before the climax. The film also ends with an uncertain whimper rather than something conclusive.

    I am happy I watched The Astronaut's Wife as I am an avid fan of Johnny Depp. I enjoyed the pleasure of being in the company of one of my best friends as well. Thank God for these two things to overshadow the shallow, predictable writing.
  • crackingdanio
    February 3, 2008
    crackingdanio
    really creepy fantastic performances from depp and theron
  • eternalite
    December 24, 2009
    eternalite
    i just love Johnny Depp..
  • markeyta2
    December 24, 2009
    markeyta2
    Johhny at his best, mysterious and sexy.
  • ghostgirl969
    December 1, 2009
    ghostgirl969
    Even Johnny didn't make me like this movie. The acting was good, very good but the plot, unsalvageable.
  • ChrisChristoferson
    November 29, 2009
    ChrisChristoferson
    very boring movie..and also i don't like Charlize Theron... the plot to predictable..
  • ythelastman89
    November 20, 2009
    ythelastman89
    A terrible movie. Everything about this came off as pathetic and just odd. Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron were completely wrong for the parts they played and just made it even more obvious that the movie was unimportant and unoriginal.
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