Lucy in the Sky

Noah Hawley is a brilliant writer and filmmaker. Legion of one of the best television shows of all time. I was a little surprised by the restraint in Lucy. I was expecting a more surreal head-trip that was potentially too challenging for modern audiences. Instead, it was a bit too straight forward. Amazing performance by Natalie Portman. The last 30 minutes were vintage Hawley. Wanted to fall in love with the movie, but it just didn't get me there.

I thought it was ok overall as the space flight & scenes were good, but then it seems to paint the narrative that Astronauts returning from space have a hard time with reality which drives them looney. Good cast and movie had potential, but just seemed to get stuck on the same cycle.

Thought this was a beautiful movie with excellent acting. Your review is quite unfair.

After watching several movies over the past New Year's holidays, one of the few that deserves some commentary is, in my humble opinion, this debut (when it comes to the big screen) by director Noah Howley. It is a pure psychological drama, inspired by a true event (sic!), that culminated with the arrest of US astronaut Lisa Nowak in 2007, named Lucy Cola in the movie (by the way, the original name of the movie was "Pale Blue Dot" until it was changed because of the smartly used association with the 1967 hit song of The Beatles). I do not know why it is labeled as science fiction, unless the epithet refers to the thesis of astronaut's dependence on space travel, which has no basis, at least when it referres to a normal, ie. balanced persons. The film has an excellent interpretation of the main protagonist, Natalie Portman, with the other characters being more or less deliberately neglected. As far as acting is concerned, e.g. Tig Notaro was given a supporting role proportional with her acting talent (just a little bit more than a statist), while Zazie Beets was disproportionately represented in that sense, probably because she is so-called "rising actress" (in the same period she made an interestingly imagined character in the movie "The Joker", which, despite all its flaws, has praiseworthy moments). Stylishly remarkable, no matter what critics think, with a wide frames when picturing levitation in Earth orbit, and shrink frames when it comes to everyday's life and separation from reality by crashing into neurosis. The fascination with insects is also interesting, pictured more than once. The most endearing detail in the movie, though, is when, at the peak of her neurosis, Lucy accuses her supervisor of being treated differently if she was male ... and in the next moment keep silenced, aware that she was overdoing it, despite all her paranoia. So much for the false ultra-feminism of the 21st century. Explained. Critics who are bothered by the style above the content, I would remind of the recent creation "Ad Astra" in which there is neither one nor the other. A meaningless plot that defies all scientific knowledge (rightly stated that behind every recent Hollywood sci-fi product there is at least one scientist or expert in a given area who might be, but have not been consulted), taken for the sole reason of being a decor where the lead actor, in this particular case of Brad Pitt, would have something to do. Although, given that in one of Tarantino's latest "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" beat all the limits of (sur)realism, what is one movie more or less, in this general collective neurosis? And does anyone, after all this, still say Lucy is paranoid...?

This is a film that I quite liked - it nearly works very well but doesn't entirely. I thought the characters were decent and the themes interesting, though there is a fair amount of cheese and perhaps even cliche present, especially/mainly in the first hour or so. At times I felt sorry for the main character but not at other times. I liked her teenage daughter character. I reckon if you like family dramas and have an interest in astronomy/astronauts or perhaps lesser so philosophy and faith in a much wider context, then you may enjoy this - that may be slightly stretching it but I reckon it's worth giving it a chance. It's a somewhat insightful and thoughtful watch but it does, it has to be said, have a feel of a channel 5 afternoon film about it, so don't be expecting a massive use of CGI and entirely slick scripts. If this sounds really intriguing, it may be worth a watch but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it as such, no.

I thought this was going to be a movie about how astrophysics changes your perspective. Turned out to be an episode of The Bachelor.

Aggravatingly boring "student film". Mainstream comedians cast in serious roles. Trying to be artsy with constantly shifting aspect ratio which doesn't achieve it's pompous intention of reflecting Natalie Portman's emotions. Nothing wrong with any of the performances. It's the plot that is pedantic. After you watch the 20 minutes, the rest of the movie is pointless. We get it. She has her mind blown by the awesomeness of space compared to wasting evenings at a bowling alley in Nebraska or wherever the movie takes place. So now what? We don't care.

Hawley executes flawlessly as director and Portman is excellent. The description is misleading though, she doesn't lose her grip on reality just has some sort of epiphany that she's not happy in her marriage. It's mostly slower drama and no sci-fi. But the last half hour is pretty thrilling. The other negative is the lack of resolution in the ending, as I see so much it doesn't go into any detail. Nonetheless it's pretty good.

I'm not a huge fan of Natalie Portman. She once again plays an unstable type-A (ala "Black Swan") (she plays this type well). The movie was moderately entertaining.

I'm seriously perplexed at why this film doesn't have better reviews? This is one of, if not the best, Natalie Portman performance I've ever seen. Not as dark or deep as Joaquin Phoenix in Joker but I still got that vibe of someone who's slowly losing touch with reality. She's strong, smart, and fierce at times. Wonderful editing with a lot of overhead shots and camera zooms to heighten Portman's isolation. And on a final note: after seeing him in this and RICHARD JEWELL recently, I'm convinced Jon Hamm doesn't have to stretch his acting chops very much to pull off playing an a--hole. I have nothing against the man and his work is spotty for me at times, but recently, he just comes across as that a--hole (so kudos to him). Looking forward to another viewing and I hope Natalie not only gets an Oscar nomination but wins the damn thing! I would definitely have to update my Top Ten list of 2019 and include this film in there.