Review: 'Spaceman' Gives Adam Sandler Another Meaty Role, but Without a Script to Match

Nearly 30 years after Billy Madison, an early Adam Sandler vehicle that bravely explored the complicated relationship between man and gargantuan penguin, the comedian-turned-actor once again finds himself facing a colossal creature that just won’t leave him alone. Sure, Spaceman swaps the man-child sent back to K-12 schooling for a lonely astronaut journeying into deep space, subs the enormous flightless bird for a gigantic alien spider and reduces the number of bits to near-zero, but the fact remains: Even accounting for his recent run of serious roles, the Sandman can still find ways to surprise us with a performance.

It’s been six months since the Czech Republic’s first independent astronaut Jakub Prochazka (Sandler) was launched into the outer reaches of our solar system. Ever-advancing toward an ominous purple mass of intergalactic dust known as the Chopra Cloud in a ship that appears to have seen better days, Jakub’s mission is relatively simple: collect a sample from the Chopra and bring it back to Earth. The hard part is actually getting there — especially when all the baggage left behind on his home planet is pulling at him like an increasingly taut bungee cord.

Jakub is in frequent communication with his terrestrial technician Peter (Kunal Nayyar), but the person he really wants to talk to is his pregnant wife Lenka (Carey Mulligan). It’s been a while since he’s heard from her, and it’s been even longer since he’s gotten anything encouraging about the status of their crumbling marriage. Combined with trouble sleeping, intense loneliness and those degrading (yet contractually obligated) sponsorship plugs he has to dispatch back to the boss, Commissioner Tuma (Isabella Rossellini), it’s possible he may reach his breaking point before he makes it to his destination.

Truth be told, his brain might already be broken. (And not in the way you’d expect from the lead of your typical Happy Madison production, either.) See, Jakob isn’t as solitary as he thought he was. Accompanying him on board is Hanuš (Paul Dano), a horrifyingly huge anthropomorphic spider with an even bigger sense of curiosity and an even larger heart. Together, this unlikely pair is going to sort through everything on Jakob’s mind: The problems with Lenka, the suppressed childhood trauma, and, if there’s time, maybe even unpack the very origins of life itself.

Even broadly speaking, Spaceman is unlike anything Sandler has done in his 35 years of film. The reason for that is twofold: a straight-laced script from debut screenwriter Colby Day and low-energy direction from Chernobyl Emmy-winner Johan Renck. Combined, Sandler ends up seeming a little out of his element. It’s not the sort of tailor-made screenplay he’s accustomed to, and as a result, I found it a little hard to acclimate to the film at first.

Alas, it also does Spaceman no favors to constantly evoke other (unfortunately, better) science fiction movies from the genre’s Jupiter-sized canon. Its restrained, melancholic feel is very Solaris — Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 version or Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 version, take your pick. Its “man vs. disarmingly calm foil with a threatening aura” setup is textbook 2001: A Space Odyssey. Even the Sad Space Husband thing is straight out of Damien Chazelle’s First Man. Looking beyond sci-fi, certain moments between Jakob and Hanuš recall similar dynamics between Tom Hanks and his volleyball buddy Wilson in Robert Zemeckis’s Cast Away. Déjà vu, indeed.

As a recurrent Sandler apologist, it pains me to admit that I wasn’t immediately hooked by Spaceman (one solid gag early on involving an ad for nausea medicine aside). From initial critical darlings such as Punch-Drunk Love to the ongoing string of hits from The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) to Uncut Gems to Hustle, every one of the much-ballyhooed standup’s breakout hits was unquestionably built around him and his strengths. Spaceman doesn’t feel that way, however. Even with the opportunity to flex a new silly voice, the role lacks that signature Sandman essence it so desperately needs to rank alongside his best work.

Though I see this as a weakness, it may bode well for those who might not be so quick to roll out (or, in this case, being a Netflix Original, log on) for the latest Sandler project. And, to his credit, Sandler doesn’t do a bad job as Jakob — not by any means. It’s just that he dissolves into the character more so than he has in just about anything else in recent memory. Personally, it’s a bummer to see such squandered potential to swing for the fences during this current Sandlerssance. I imagine any fellow Sandler defender will echo my sentiments. 

With Sandler’s disappearing act at the center, Carey Mulligan as the neglected wife on the fringe and Paul Dano keeping it continually interesting as… well, Paul Dano in arachnid form, you’ve got all the makings of a mellow, moody movie night geared toward the indie crowd. Why not make it a double feature with last year’s Maestro, where Mulligan can be seen similarly sidelined? 

Sure, Spaceman can’t compare to the gonzo heights of some of Sandler’s triumphs, but maybe that’s the key. Perhaps Sandler’s intention in playing Jakob was to have an excuse to beef up the portfolio with something more reserved than anything we’ve gotten from him before. If that’s the case, it’s a job well done: another previously unknown facet of this actor who, for my money, proves to be one of the most enigmatic and unpredictable A-listers of our time.