![]() ![]() And it doesn’t help, either, that the era the movie evokes isn’t honed to a sharp point. ![]() Bot, that is utilized to relatively amusing effect, the gag revelation being that he takes cues for all of his positive-minded advice simply from the subjects’ word choice.)īut some of the story elements introduced (Captain Terry’s recklessness with respect to an impending asteroid shower and Misty’s shrill and increasingly antagonistic behavior) feel like awkward add-ons to what is essentially a space-set reworking of Douglas Sirk-ian melodrama. (There’s also a valium-prescribing droid therapist, Dr. There’s strong insight into the manner in which women often tear each other down in little ways here, and if Space Station 76 doubled down on these instincts and scenes instead of wasting time on a little flirtation between Jessica and Ted, the movie could have worked as a fairly compelling character study. Narratively, the movie is all about simmering domestic resentments and queen-bee digs by Donna and Misty, who chirp and chip away at both Jessica’s (lack of) maternity and her occupational ambition as it relates to her femininity. Unfortunately, the movie lacks a substantive dramatic pull until a late case of contagious heated-argument-syndrome blooms. (There’s a fantastic montage of emotional dislocation set to Ambrosia’s “How Much I Feel.”) Additionally, Steffan and Mark Fantini’s slightly woozy and seductive score nicely complements Plotnick’s superlative use of a couple period piece music selections. Eventually, all the dormant personality conflicts come to a boil.īelow-the-line, Space Station 76 is a miniature marvel of to-scale efficiency what it gets right in terms of spare but smart production design, costuming and Robert Brinkmann’s cinematography goes a long way toward creating a believable and pleasing environment one wants to sink into. Jessica’s straight-down-the-middle professionalism also befuddles the casually condescending, mutton-chopped Captain Glenn Terry (Patrick Wilson), whose clipped patois indicates a comic self-involvement, yes, but also a toxic secret. When career-oriented Lieutenant Jessica Marlow (Liv Tyler) transfers aboard the Omega 76 space station from another ship, she befriends Sunshine (Kylie Rogers), the seven-year-old daughter of Ted (Matt Bomer) and Misty (Marisa Coughlan), but has trouble connecting with most of the other adults, including busybody Donna (Kali Rocha) and her husband Steve (Jerry O’Connell). ![]() Such is the case with Space Station 76-a low-fi sci-fi comedy that unfolds in a non-specific, future-set time period where everything mysteriously echoes a decidedly more uptight time gone by. Many Hollywood studio productions are so invested in the idea of economy of scale when it comes to tamping down what they view as a default setting of audience boredom-the belief that bigger and brawnier visual dressing de facto equals greater entertainment-that to bear witness to a film that rejects that notion, even out of budget necessity as much as anything else, can be bracing and for a long stretch entertaining in and of itself, even if its narrative isn’t quite fully clicking. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |