The Astronaut's Wife (1999)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Rand Ravich

Writer (WGA):

Rand Ravich (written by)

Release Date:

27 August 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

How well do you know the one you love?

Plot:

A pair of shuttle astronauts leave their spacecraft to repair a satellite. There's an explosion. NASA loses contact for two minutes...

Plot Keywords:

Astronaut | Change | Mission | Possession | Dirty Talk

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Johnny Depp	...	Commander Spencer Armacost
Charlize Theron	...	Jillian Armacost
Joe Morton	...	Sherman Reese, NASA Representative
Clea DuVall	...	Nan
Donna Murphy	...	Natalie Streck
Nick Cassavetes	...	Capt. Alex Streck
Samantha Eggar	...	Dr. Patraba
Gary Grubbs	...	NASA Director
Blair Brown	...	Shelly McLaren
Tom Noonan	...	Jackson McLaren
Tom O'Brien	...	Allen Dodge
Lucy Lin	...	Shelly Carter
Michael Crider	...	Pat Elliott
Jacob Stein	...	Calvin, 2nd Grade Student
Timothy Wicker	...	Wide Eyed Kid #1

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and a strong scene of sexuality.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Portugal:M/16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:12 (TV rating) | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:M18 (cut) (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | South Korea:18 | South Korea:15 (cable rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Spain:13 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #36008) | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Camarillo Airport - 555 Airport Way, Camarillo, California, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

In this film as well as in The Devil's Advocate (1997), Charlize Theron's character begins in Florida, then moves to New York (where bad things happen to her).

Goofs:

Factual errors: All NASA shuttle astronauts live and work in the vicinity of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, many of them in Clear Lake, a Houston suburb. Yet in the film, Jillian teaches school in Florida, where she and Armacost clearly live. Astronauts only go to Florida for launches.

Quotes:

Spencer Armacost: I couldn't sleep. I was just listenin' to some music.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

My Way

Average at best; better than some....

I have to say, I always enjoy Johnny Depp's work. He is a chameleon; an actor who can take literally any role, who can step outside the boundaries of typecasting. And, his performance in this film is in no way weaker than any other character; it is merely a role that not many are likely to recall when asked about him. The film builds decently enough. Depp and Theron play a married couple, and a significant element of stress begins to grow on Theron following Depp's events during an orbital assignment given to his character.

I also like Charlize Theron; my one nitpick is how she seems to always find her way into these 'tormented woman' roles, like in the Devil's Advocate. Her skills are not necessarily hindered by this repetitiveness; I just find it a redundancy she needs to work beyond. Those of you watching this film for a horror-themed thriller are going to be mostly put off. This film really does not rely to such an extent the horror mechanisms; rather it builds the tension through a number of strictly dialogue scenes, using the plot to intrigue rather than scare tactics.

The ending - quite literally, the last twenty minutes, is the only place you're likely to see what may be called horror. I will not give away what happens here; you have to watch it and see. All I will say is that the ending left me anticipating more. That said, my overall opinion is this movie is satisfactory at best, not a true stand out in the annals of cinema history, but certainly not one of the poorest examples of the profession.