`THE ASTRONAUT'S WIFE' TOUCHES DOWN.Byline: Janet Maslin The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times ``The Astronaut's Wife'' arrived Friday in a veil of mystery. How could a thriller starring Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II[1] (born June 9 1963) is an American actor. Biography Early life Depp was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, to John Christopher Depp Sr., a city engineer, and Betty Sue (Wells), a waitress. and Charlize Theron be so bad that New Line Cinema, which has been in no hurry to release this film, would not risk screening in advance for the press. Answer: as directed by Rand Ravich, it's actually a lot better than these circumstances suggest. But as written by Ravich, a screenwriter directing his debut feature, ``The Astronaut's Wife'' is ridiculously derivative. Perhaps no one has told the exact story of an astronaut who experiences two minutes' worth of strangeness in space and then comes home seeming, well, different. But when his wife, Jillian (Theron), becomes pregnant, it hardly seems coincidental to find her in Mia Farrow's hairdo from ``Rosemary's Baby Rosemary’s baby through witchcraft, child born with horns and tail. [Am. Lit.: Rosemary’s Baby] See : Witchcraft .'' Theron's role in the much sharper ``Devil's Advocate'' was another variation on that theme. Showing off an underutilized film noir film noir (French; “dark film”) Film genre that offers dark or fatalistic interpretations of reality. The term is applied to U.S. films of the late 1940s and early '50s that often portrayed a seamy or criminal underworld and cynical characters. sensibility, Depp plays Cmdr. Spencer Armacost, who is one part NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. and two parts Elvis. (``They gon' be pilots, honey,'' he drawls sexily, when told that Jillian is expecting twins.) Spencer is one of two crew members who are nearly killed while on a mission, and the other (Nick Cassavetes Nicholas David Rowland Cassavetes (born May 21, 1959) is an American actor and director. Cassavetes was born in New York City, New York, the son of actress Gena Rowlands and Greek-American actor and director John Cassavetes. ) flips out soon after returning to Earth. Spencer is also madly in love with his wife, which the film emphasizes avidly. ``Hey, Jill, what are you wearing?'' he asks, when NASA lets him telephone her in midflight. You and I and creatures in other galaxies can guess why Spencer begins behaving peculiarly later on. But Ravich gives the film a clean, sensuous look and tarts it up stylishly, doing what he can to deflect attention from the obvious direction in which the story is headed. While many of his flourishes are effective and visually interesting, he also indulges in plenty of overkill overkill Vox populi An excess of anything . When Jillian (abetted by Joe Morton as a NASA renegade) is upset by an audio tape and angrily destroys it, the incinerator's-eye view of the tape being thrown away is more than we need to know. Depp moves through the film suavely suave adj. suav·er, suav·est Smoothly agreeable and courteous. [French, agreeable, from Old French, from Latin su and imperturbably im·per·turb·a·ble adj. Unshakably calm and collected. See Synonyms at cool. im  per·turb , never
letting the particulars bog him down. He bats not an eye when Spencer
moves to New York and becomes a corporate executive, for instance,
although the details don't even presume to make sense. He and
Theron, looking cherubically beautiful, establish a warm rapport that
would seem more natural if the film had anything else to offer. And as
for - oops! - the aliens, their designs on the Armacosts prove to be
awfully tepid. This film's answer to the question of whether there
is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe: not too.
THE FACTS The film: ``The Astronaut's Wife'' (R; strong language and erotic encounters). The stars: Johnny Depp, Charlize Theron. Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Rand Ravich. Produced by Andrew Lazar. Released by New Line Cinema. Running time: One hour, 40 minutes. Playing: Selected theaters. Our rating: Two stars. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Charlize Theron and Johnny Depp establish a loving rapport in ``The Astronaut's Wife.'' |
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