Space Oddity

Despite Kyle Allen's (Alex) lackluster performance, the rest of the cast manages to salvage the movie with their best efforts in a predictable plot. The most rewarding aspect of the film is the development of Jeff and his daughter Liz's relationship, as Liz's tough exterior gradually melts away to reveal her love for growing flowers. However, with the looming threat of a ruined planet and inevitable destruction, it seemed likely that Alex would leave for Mars. The cover of David Bowie's iconic song, "Space Oddity," provides a glimmer of hope. But unfortunately, the final plot twist was predictable and underwhelming, resulting in a mediocre rating of 5.5/10, which can be rounded up to 6/10. Would I recommend this movie to watch? No. If you watch, would you like it? Not sure!

25 minutes is as long into this that I lasted. Despite it being a tea time viewing and expecting something light and airy I guess I thought kevin Bacon would add some gravitas? But its likely that his fee took up a good percentage of the B movie budget?

Is really cleanly filmed and the garden scenes are probably the star attraction. The premise of travelling to Mars is pretty ridiculous, and just serves as a hook for sci fi fans, 20 minutes in you will realise that its basically a rom/com, with the usual, cheesy boy meets girl setups. Which is great if thats what you are looking forward to?

Maybe the rest of the 1 hr 34mins runtime rustled up some Philosophical, life affirming moments, but I took my chances and decided to save an hour or so of my life..here on earth!

It may be slow paced, and pretty obvious story-wise in terms of the final outcome, but it's a truly well put together movie that is thoughtful, heart warming and also endearing.

In all honesty, the cast are the true stars, they have a very limited story to tell but they express everything in a short but sweet way. Also, I'm very impressed with Alexandra Shipp, I don't know too much about her career or resume but she ticks all the right boxes.

Lastly, I think Kyra Sedgwick did a fantastic job directing. It's a movie filled with many emotional intricacies but it was handled with due care and loving attention. You can tell when a movie was handcrafted compared to the "copy-paste" template we all have to endure these days from big budget studios.

Space Oddity is a beautifully crafted movie and well worth a viewing on a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

It gets a low budget 8 out of 10 for me.

Space Oddity

This was a hidden gem of a movie, I don't want to ruin the story so I shan't dwell on that, but the movie explored some very difficult aspects of the pain we suffer as a result of loving someone. It was self-evident that reality of personal abandonment manifests in a multitude of different and often worrying behaviours.

Alex, was extremely clever, he sublimated his pain with anger, recrimination and transference, out of his family he was the most damaged due to his age and immaturity.

The movie made us watch a process, it was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish and deeply effecting. The script was tight the acting solid and pacing excellent, there were some clunky scenes that needing editing out.

Kyle Allen, who played the lead, and the whole movie rested on, really is a very talented actor and I see great things, it really was very compelling.

Whilst I made it all sound miserable it was a very happy life reaffirming story that reminds us life is for the living. I'm surprised at the low marks on here when I am giving it a firm 8 outta 10. As an aside in England we give children a hamster to learn about life and death, Alex clearly never had a hamster lol.

This film started out a little slow, but once it got going it was very entertaining! While it develops into a rom-com with a setup we've seen before, it is done very well. The acting is great, the writing is gripping, and the shots are beautiful.

The thing that sets it really far apart is the overarching theme driving it, which is the Mars trip. It really has nothing to do with actually going to Mars, but instead is driving a well-thought-out discussion about how we can get tired of life on Earth and will look for any possible escape, even if it silly or nonsensical.

These things combine to make this a great movie and one that has two flavors to enjoy. If you're looking for something laid-back, simple, and even a little cheesy, you can watch for the romance and laugh at all the jokes without thinking about the deep themes. If you want a movie that you can talk about for days with depth that is worth appreciating, you can look into topics like escapism and personal value systems. I think there's something for everyone in this film, so it's really just hard to hate in my opinion.