Spaceman Review – Sandler’s Surreal Space Story

What does Happy Gilmore, Uncut Gems, and Spaceman have in common – a part from starring Adam Sandler? Absolutely nothing, and that’s what makes it such a joy to see Sandler’s career take such a right turn into the bizarre.

On a solo mission to explore a strange cosmic event that has lit the skies for the last four years, Czech astronaut Jakub Prochazka (Adam Sandler) is a selfish brick wall of emotional concealment. That is until a giant space ‘spider’ (Paul Dano) is infatuated with his loneliness and uses his space spider powers to force Prochazka to confront his failing marriage with his pregnant wife (Carey Mulligan). Yup, you just read that right. What sounds like a story you’d expect to see in a 60s Marvel comic book, with the writers high on more mushrooms than a Czech forest, is a surprisingly poignant exploration of emotional selfishness and isolation.

Following the career revitalising success of Uncut Gems in 2019, Sandler has kept to his moto of ‘I’ll make whatever film I want,’ but added in the important element of quality control, improving on his painful string of films between Bedtime Stories (2008) and Murder Mystery (2019). Of course there were some duds in between, but the succession of Uncut Gems, to Hustle, through to Leo, and now finishing with Spaceman shows potential for a Sandler-aissance.

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Spaceman is in the weird position of riding on the coattails of its casts’ previous reputation. It’s safe to say that, without Adam Sandler, Spaceman would almost be a guaranteed flop – and its smattering of negative reviews on Letterboxd are warranted. The best part of Spaceman is seeing Sandler attempting the type of slow, close-up heavy emotional performance that has never been seen in any of his films. Stuck in a confined ship with no one but his thoughts for a large portion of the film, Sandler is forced to incorporate the facial subtlety required to portray an Astronaut content with emotional isolation, despite its obvious harm, that is a far cry from his chaotic performance in Uncut Gems, and silly performances in his smattering of Netflix original comedy movies.

Paul Dano is unquestionable as excellent as he can be with the film’s basic (for lack of a better word) script that provides a surface level view of the complexities of individualism on the emotional spectrum. Hanus becomes the film’s intelligent core as the space spider peels open the ‘layers’ of Prochazka’s decision to embark on a solo mission near Jupiter, despite his wife being pregnant. Speaking of wives, the chemistry between Sandler and Mulligan is lost in space. The flashback scenes, of which there are many, intended to add emotional weight to Prochazka’s situation and cement the bond the pair once shared feels like a couple who are already sick of each other, despite having only just met in many of the scenes. The fault is, in part, on the actors, who’s monotonic line delivery only showcases how emotionally weak the script actually is.

The film’s saving grace is Johan Renck (Chernobyl, Breaking Bad)’s direction and shot choice. Despite most of the film being set in an underwhelmingly bland space shuttle, Renck makes the most of the space, using strategic lighting to add depth to the otherwise flat environment. His decision to utilise a fish-eyed lens adds a much needed visual intrigue to keep audiences engaged through the countless, tedious flashbacks. The CGI is also surprisingly adequate. Spaceman won’t be fooling anyone into thinking Dano’s spider was a practical design, but does enough to maintain the suspension of disbelief. The visual highlight is the final space sequence, where Sandler and Spider-Dano are hurled through the collection of vibrant space dust, which contains memories of time and space. The intended narrative weight of the final moment is almost redundant, but the scene acts as an impressive visual change from what has, otherwise been an hour and a half of sad Adam Sandler in a Soviet Space Shuttle.

So why is Spaceman getting a moderately okay review after paragraphs of slating? Because it’s fun to see Sandler’s career take this experimental diversion from his typical, low-brow comedies. It’s an A for effort. Although its slim, Spaceman does provide enough of a looking glass into Prochazka’s psyche to resonate with audiences who may have experienced something similar – we all know that one friend that has a deep emotional bond with a giant space spider. Here’s hoping that Sandler doubles down on the surrealism in his next film, and becomes the new face of unpredictability.