Lucy in the Sky

Based on true events, Lucy in the Sky follows astronaut Lucy Cola (Natalie Portman) as she returns to earth after a mission and subsequently finds it difficult to readjust to her day-to-day life. Filmmaker Noah Hawley delivers a slow-moving and mostly underwhelming character study that persistently holds the viewer at arms length, and it’s clear that the movie’s hands-off atmosphere compounded by a series of questionable directorial choices – with the most obvious and egregious example of this Hawley’s reliance on seriously ostentatious visual choices (ie what’s up with the constantly-changing aspect ratios?) Portman’s stirring performance goes a long way towards cultivating a tolerable atmosphere, at least initially, although Hawley’s meandering modus operandi ensures that the actress is eventually unable to compensate for an otherwise uninvolving narrative. The spinning-its-wheels midsection is alleviated by a comparatively bonkers final half hour, in which the picture essentially (and without warning) transforms into a De Palma-esque thriller – with this stretch, though entertaining, emblematic of Hawley’s lack of focus or clear vision. The end result is a massively disappointing misfire that could and should have been so much better, with the Wikipedia synopsis of the true-life tale generally packing more of a potent punch than this mess.

*1/2 out of ****