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Review by Susan Granger
1½ stars out of 4
Writer/director Rand Ravich came up with an intriguing premise
for this sci-fi tale: What would happen if an astronaut was, somehow,
changed after he returned from a supposedly routine space journey? Who
would know? Good idea, right? So, Johnny Depp - newly blond with a
Southern drawl - plays a NASA shuttle pilot, one of two crew members
who are nearly killed when a satellite explodes and ground control
mysteriously loses contact with them for two minutes. His companion
(Nick Cassavetes) flips out soon after their return to Earth. But Depp
doesn't. Instead, he announces his decision to quit the space program
and impregnates his beautiful wife, played by Charlize Theron ("Mighty
Joe Young," "The Devil's Advocate"), with twins. But then strange
things begin to happen. First, Cassavetes dies from "a severe insult
to the brain" (i.e.: a stroke). Then Theron's confidante, played by
Donna Murphy, is electrocuted. Nevertheless, the now-former astronaut
and his now-fearful wife leave Florida and move to New York, where
she's befriended by the wife (Blair Brown) of her husband's new
corporate boss (Tom Noonan) in the aerospace industry. Are there any
surprises? Only when British actress Samantha Eggar turns up as an
obstetrician with a thick German accent. Otherwise you can probably
guess what happens. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "The
Astronaut's Wife" is a fumbling, formulaic 4. Think of a sluggish
"Rosemary's Baby" with an extra-terrestrial twist.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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