THE ASTRONAUT'S WIFE
Even if we hadn't, The Astronaut's Wife is a poor execution of
the concept. Written and directed by Rand Ravich, the film stars Johnny
Depp in one of his most flat, featureless roles yet, and Charlize Theron
in the exact same part she played in The
Devil's Advocate. Theron impressed me immensely in that film, playing
the tortured wife of Keanu Reeves (an unenviable position for anyone). But
her role here is so similar I wonder if she just dusted off her old notes.
After a mission which almost killed astronauts Spencer Armacost (Depp)
and Alex Streck (Nick Cassavetes) during a routine extravehicular activity,
NASA declares the two men "heroes" and throws a big party for
them. No one really knows what occurred during the two minutes of lost radio
contact, and the two aren't talking about it, but weird things start happening.
First Alex dies mysteriously. Then his wife commits suicide. Then Spencer,
who always said he would be an astronaut forever, quits NASA and takes a
desk job for a company that designs military aircraft. Spencer's wife Jillian
(Theron), who has suffered from disturbing visions since her mother died,
starts seeing herself as a corpse.
Soon Jillian discovers she's pregnant, and you'd think that would cheer
her up, wouldn't you? But no. She is contacted by former NASA man Sherman
Reese (Joe Morton), who is convinced that during the fateful two minutes,
something took over the bodies of the two men and her husband is not really
her husband anymore. Jillian doesn't want to believe him, especially since
he's recently been fired from NASA for spouting such ideas, but she can't
argue when he guesses (correctly) that she's expecting twins. You see, Reese
knows that when Streck's wife killed herself, she was pregnant with twins,
too. Shazam.
So Jillian must decide whether the two unborn babies currently residing
in her womb are in fact products of the man she loves or the offspring of
the vile thing that killed him. And Spencer, who hasn't been himself since
the day he touched down on the tarmac, is not helping her come to the happy
conclusion.
As the title implies, this story is about Jillian, not Spencer. Theron
is obviously the star, and she is adequately panicky for the role. But after
her part in The Devil's Advocate, where she was a panicky wife seeing
visions and not getting any sympathy from her formerly passionate husband,
it's like watching Sylvester Stallone in a new film called Ricky,
about a come-from- behind boxer from Philadelphia. Theron fails to distance
herself from the previous role, and director Ravich fails to make her do
so. Meanwhile, Depp, who shined in Edward Scizzorhands and Ed
Wood, is like a cardboard cutout here. Part of the failure is in Ravich's
script, for not showing us enough of a difference in Spencer's former self
and his new alien personality. The loving relationship between the two,
so vitally important to make his transition visible, is touched on in the
few scenes we see before the mission. But not nearly enough.
The film features good supporting performances by Morton and also Clea DuVall as Jillian's sister Nan. But they're not on screen long enough to save The Astronaut's Wife from its inevitable fate as a video shelf-warmer and a sci-fi also-ran. **½