Kritiken

“Spaceman” is that exquisite rare thing — an awful movie, a very bad movie indeed, whose lousiness was almost certainly not apparent while it was in production... It is not fun-bad. It is maudlin-bad, belabored-bad and also pretty boring-bad.

The lack of oxygen extends to the writing from Colby Day... who is so determined to keep a grip on the mood for the first section of the film, it almost grinds to a halt... In a film that needs more sharp edges, what we're served is as soft and overly sweet

There is indeed more to Spaceman than the description of it as “the Adam Sandler Netflix flick where the actor talks with a giant spider about loneliness for close to two hours.” But that neat and simplified (not to mention simplistic) logline captures precisely why the film ultimately falters.

Spaceman achieves a sort of weightlessness in a genre often bloated by cheap effects and hollow sentiment. Instead, Renck’s film floats along with a unique grace, reckoning with the weight of paternal legacy and human folly with sincerity, achieving something quite profound in the process.

Director Renck and cinematographer Jakob Ihre deliver consistently arresting visuals... [while] Sandler turns in some of his finest work, especially considering the bulk of his scenes have him paired with a talking spider. “Spaceman” is a wonderfully weird journey that ends on just the right and quite satisfying notes.

It’s perhaps a desire to be “universal” that derails the romantic turmoil that should be at the film’s core. Spaceman seems to want to be an allegory about men’s emotional unavailability and its impact on heterosexual relationships—to the point that “Men would rather go to space than get therapy” would be an appropriate tagline for it.

Spaceman is often attempting things and not quite getting there. However, when this focuses on the love story, as explored through Jakub and Hanuš, there’s a lovely earnestness to Spaceman... [The film] is a rocky journey, but in times like these and thanks to Sandler’s performance, it’s often worth the trip.

A pretentious, message-heavy drama. Violating “Seinfeld’s” “No hugging, no learning” rule, the [film's] concept holds some interest for a time but runs out fuel before reaching home.

Seeing Sandler whirl gravity-free throughout the space shuttle isn’t without its pleasures... But beyond the physical demands of the role... “Spaceman” brings no new shade to some of the glummer Sandler personas we’re already familiar with. Renck’s film leaves him quite literally lost in space with nowhere to go.

“Spaceman” is spare and sparse... A quiet film about what we’re trying to escape (our past) and what we cannot bear to confront (the present), it’s a bit of an odd little nugget, but if you can dial into its Bowie-esque off-kilter frequency, the moody experience of this minor-keyed effort is rewarding.

Come for the wise alien spider, stay for Adam Sandler at his sombre best in this strange, heartfelt sci-fi drama. Here’s hoping he continues to push himself to new highs.

A lifeless space oddity about a commercially sponsored Czech mission to the stars, whose astronaut has to repeat the ad slogans in his radio contact with Earth, always a laboured type of satire... [Spaceman] is a spaceflight to nowhere.