The Astronaut's Wife

"The Astronaut's Wife" (1999)

www.that-movie-site.com

THE ASTRONAUT'S WIFE

Reviewed by Heather Picker

Note: This review was written when I was in high school. It sucks. Will be revised shortly.

Written and Directed by Rand Ravich. Starring Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron, with Joe Morton and Clea DuVall. 1999, 110 min., Rated R (for violence, language and a strong scene of sexuality).

It would be redundant to note that filmmaker Rand Ravich's The Astronaut's Wife is thematically quite similar to Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968), so instead I'll note that in the film, actress Charlize Theron sports a 'do reminiscent of Mia Farrow's famous Rosemary cut. Actually, it's more of a cross between Farrow hair and that of MTV veejay Serena Altschul, but I digress. Here Theron stars as title character Jillian Armacost, the young schoolteacher wife of NASA astronaut Spencer (Johnny Depp), a character not unlike hers in The Devil's Advocate, who becomes pregnant and begins to slowly accept that something sinister is afoot. No, Spencer didn't make a pact with Satan; he went on a mission that lost contact with Earth for two minutes.

Jillian feels alienated upon his return. Spencer becomes uncharacteristically withdrawn, resigns from the space program and affords his wife more reason to mope by accepting a job in New York that necessitates a move. Jillian proceeds to waste an hour and fifty minutes of my incredibly valuable (hee) time, delaying the inevitable by looking pensive and chatting with her sister, Nan (a bright spot in the film provided by Clea DuVall). An underdeveloped subplot, the plight of Spencer's friend and fellow astronaut Alex Streck (Nick Cassavetes), fails to liven things; Alex was with Spencer when they lost contact and, as Jillian learns from his wife, Natalie (Donna Murphy), is now acting awful strange himself. After a couple of ugly deaths, Jillian inches, ever so slowly, closer to the truth, eventually with the assistance of a former NASA employee (Joe Morton), who ventures to New York to provide her with anticlimactic information.

The concept had potential but the script, by director Ravich (previously the acclaimed wordsmith behind such timeless classics as Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh and The Maker), is uneven and ridiculously bad in the final act. Depp and Theron are both solid, however, and Ravich's directing fares slightly better than his writing. Morton, Cassavetes and Murphy provide good support, but there is nothing redeeming here.

Availability: The Astronaut's Wife is available on video and DVD.

Home | Reviews | About | Capsule Reviews | Links