(Couldn’t find a better poster that would upload)
This is a well-crafted movie starring Adam Sandler who I haven’t seen in a long time, it’s sentimental to it’s fault and wears it’s optimism on it’s sleeve. The only way I would judge the success of a movie like this is asking if it succeed in making me feel for it’s characters, humanity and for myself. The answer is yes, it did.
Adam Sandler plays a cosmonaut alone in a spaceship on a mission to collect data from a strange cloud that is passing from the Solar System and he does brilliantly here. I love the way how nuanced his portrayal of fear and uncertainty is, it’s not loud or sensational, he has this face of a person who is not terrified but shaked by the reality of what he sees and has to cope with. His desperation and loneliness is pathetic and even pitiful, I completely bought all of that and though I kept disliking his character as the movie goes on, the movie also reminded me in the end of his humanity and redemption.
Paul Dano plays a CGI monstrous spider onboard this lonely vessel who can communicate to Sandler’s character and read his thoughts. The two go together on a sort of psychiatric session where this creature visits our main character’s life, his regrets and hopes through intermittent flashbacks.
The visuals are spectacular especially the explosion of colors during the end of the third-act. The movie looks absolutely gorgeous when it finally comes out of it’s bounds and lets loose.
There is nostalgia, feel-goodness, and sentimentality and it might feel like it’s not being totally realistic in regards to it’s characters but I think that’s because it just has one purpose and is focused on that, crafting a maybe dumb plot point here and there notwithstanding.
7.5/10
good review OP, i saw your post then watched the film before i read it so i really knew nothing going in. didn’t know what to expect and was surprised by how good it was. then read your review after i finished it just now