Men will literally contemplate traveling to Mars instead of going to therapy in “Space Oddity,” directed by Kyra Sedgwick.
In “Space Oddity,” an emotionally guarded young man named Alex (Kyle Allen) gathers his sister and parents to inform them that, in 10 years, he will be traveling to Mars on a one-way ticket, and that they should spend time together before he goes into isolation for training. He claims to be participating in a private space program that is years ahead of NASA. His sister (Madeline Brewer) is skeptical, but his parents (Kevin Bacon and Carrie Preston) humor him. “After the accident, he spent months just lying in his room,” his mother says. At least Mars is outdoors.
It does not take an astrophysics degree to figure out what is actually going on, or to determine that “Space Oddity,” directed by the actress Kyra Sedgwick, is not science fiction at all, but an earnest movie about grieving and guilt, with the prospect of life on Mars (and a second David Bowie song, sang here by Brandi Carlile, as a title) held out as a vaguely commercial hook.
There’s also a romance: Alex meets cute with an insurance sales rep, Daisy (Alexandra Shipp), who conveniently falls for him just when he needs a personal breakthrough. Daisy exists alongside other sounding boards — a doctor played by Alfre Woodard, a Russian gardener played by Simon Helberg — that the screenwriter Rebecca Banner has contrived in place of characters.
Life seldom offers such overworked metaphors. Not only does Alex want to escape Earth; his father actually works with the earth, growing and selling flowers (but not daisies!), in a business he hopes Alex will take over. Serious subject matter aside, the movie is as bogus as Alex’s prospects of being an astronaut.
Space Oddity
Rated PG-13 for, among other things, “thematic elements.” Danger, children! Themes! Running time: 1 hour 32 minutes. In theaters.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
