Spaceman

• Directed by Johan Renck
• February 20, 2024 (Berlinale) / February 23, 2024 (US)
• Based on the 2017 novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař

An astronaut sent on a mission to the edge of the solar system encounters a creature that helps him put his Earthly in perspective.

After Uncut Gems I had a whole new perspective on Adam Sandler as a performer. At least more so than I thought of him beforehand. Sandler is clearly a performer with range. Maybe not Oscar worthy but certainly talented. So, when I heard about Spaceman I was more willing than some I have seen to give this new movie a shot.

To be clear Spaceman treads no new territory really. A space alien imparts wisdom/common sense on a person too wrapped up in themselves to see the obvious. A plot that has been done plenty. Here a spider-like alien traveler that Jakob eventually calls Hanuš (voice of Paul Dano) helps Jakob put his life in perspective. Such stories can be trite examples of armchair philosophy or touching attempts to look at part of the human condition. Our Czech cosmonaut (the term he uses) is sent on a solo mission to the edge of the solar system to investigate an anomaly because sending unmanned probes is for loser nations.

I question the logic of such a long duration solo mission. At least one other person along makes sense from a psychological standpoint. Rapid communications with Earth aside, being physically alone does wear on a person. And then there are the personal issues which would make pulling the mission off successfully a bit of a question. Jakob is having some serious marital problems. His marriage is essentially over, but he still loves her. But if we didn’t have those things going on we wouldn’t have much of a movie.

Director Johan Renck and screenwriter Colby Day do a good job of making the viewer think Jakob is quite possibly hallucinating. Yet there’s also enough there to let your mind think this is really some kind of alien that boarded the ship without Jakob’s knowledge. That’s important for the story. If you’re not thinking this is a real alien from the start then Spaceman loses some of the punch as does the inverse of believing Jakob is experiencing a vivid hallucination from the get-go. He is sleep deprived because of a malfunctioning toilet that makes loud noise. That coupled with his stress could be making him lose his grip on reality. But we never really know which. There’s never any confirmation from any other character. What could confirm things are either inconclusive or not functioning.

The alien Hanuš is one of those last of the species types that regularly pop up in fiction. He is dying from something called the Gromped. Based on the initial in story info it certainly sounds like a genocidal alien species but turns out to be lethal parasite. That felt more like an abrupt change than an outgrowth of information. Anyway he is now apparently traveling the universe while on the verge of death from a possibly communicable parasitic infection.

If there’s a message in this it’s about focusing on what’s important, and not looking for the next thing over the horizon. Jakub has been neglectful of his wife Lenka (Carey Mulligan) to the point she decides to leave him while he is several million miles from Earth. He has some long-standing baggage that makes it difficult to emotionally connect yet Jakob and Lenka are not done in such a way that they are too self-absorbed or too damaged to function. They are at a low point in one way or another making this mission for Jakob not about great discovery but about once again running away from his wife Lenka.

Sandler’s performance in Uncut Gems was just a tweaked version of what he normally does in his movies. Here his character is much more independent of what he normally does. Aside from a bit of sarcasm on the part of his character here or there I can find no trace of your standard Adam Sandler character in this. 

Adam Sandler can do entertaining stupid comedy as well as drama. He just doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. His performance here is poignant and painful and the transition from the man he was to the man he should be is gradual and believable. You believe his character realizes where he has gone wrong with Lenka. He is not the man she deserves despite him loving her. 

Carrie Mulligan for her part could have taken the easy route and just played Lenka as bitter and angry. Instead she plays the character as somebody who loves the man but can’t deal with the issues he has that cause him to act the way he does. She’s reached her limit and the pregnancy makes her realize she has to make a choice and the choice she makes is to leave him while he is millions of miles away from Earth because that sounds helpful.

Joining Sandler, Mulligan, and Dano in this are Kunal Nayyar as Jakob’s friend and a technician on the project named Peter, Isabella Rossellini as Jakub’s commanding officer Commissioner Tuma, and Lena Olin as Lenka’s mother Zdena. Not a large cast but enough of a diverse talent pool that makes for an interesting cast.

Visually this is an absolutely fantastic film. The space anomaly that sends Jakob into space is plausible in presentation. It’s nothing fancy but just odd. The spider creature looks real even though it appears to be entirely CGI. It’s expressive and Sandler interacts well with it. This is also one of the few times in science fiction films we have seen a more authentic space toilet.

Spaceman was a pleasant surprise and one that further shows Adam Sandler can do drama. It is an emotionally moving film that will hook you from the start. A strong recommendation!