Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #261569 in DVD
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Running time: 109 minutes

Amazon.com
An intriguingly creepy premise but failed execution marks this stylish and ultimately bland thriller about a pretty, young woman whose pretty, young astronaut husband comes back from his most recent space mission a little... odd. Before that fated space trip, Spencer (Johnny Depp) and Jillian (Charlize Theron) were a sunny, happy couple with matching blonde hairdos and a predilection for romping in the sack from extremely clever camera angles. However, after a communications blackout brings Spencer and his partner back down to earth prematurely, things are a little... peculiar. Spencer's partner goes bonkers and has a heart attack; on top of that, the partner's wife takes a fatal shower with a plugged-in radio. Getting out of the space biz, Spencer accepts a job as a corporate exec in New York, and as a welcome to the Big Apple for his comely wife, he molests her at the company cocktail party. Soon enough, Jillian is pregnant, but as you might expect, this pregnancy (twins, don't you know) is a little... unusual. Writer-director Rand Ravich takes his sweet time getting from extremely obvious plot point A to even more obvious plot point B, stretching out the development particulars in mind-numbing, suspense-killing fashion. Even Joe Morton, as a sinisterly psychotic NASA official, can't liven things up--you know you're in bad thriller territory when the biggest scare comes from a light suddenly being switched off. Theron, sporting a Mia Farrow-Rosemary's Baby haircut, sleepwalks beautifully through the movie, but she did this role much, much better in The Devil's Advocate. Depp, with a cornpone Southern accent, is about as realistic as his peroxided hair. Ravich does the viewer no favors with a hackneyed ending straight out of a B-grade paperback horror novel in which the most shocking moment is Theron's sudden emergence as a brunette. With Blair Brown as a jaded socialite who offers to help out Theron by providing do-it-yourself abortion pills, and a lovely Donna Murphy as the suicidal wife who figures it all out before everyone else. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews

A fascinating series of reviews below
I watch a fair number of slower paced, atmospheric foreign films that kind of stew in their own juices. I enjoy them. I also like old sci-fi. This film vaguely reminded me of Tarkovsky's "Solaris"--a fave for me. I hope that comparison is helpful to people interested in this movie.

I enjoyed this film. It took an old B-movie story (I think it was "I Married a Space Monster"), and stood it on its head while maintaining the initial point of "what's the difference between body and mind, or soul and genetics." A lot of body in this film and I think that was part of the point. Using an old, and predictable, story or premise as a vehicle is not uncommon--we all knew how the new King Kong was going to end, didn't we--so when it's done, the thing I look for is the shape and flavor of the things hanging off that trite story line, and how it all interacts with our imposition of predestination on a flick.

A hundred plus bad reviews down below--REALLY bad reviews--but after reading many of them I sense a common problem. Johnny Dep is a cult phenomenon, but he's also a fine actor. No matter what he does, he drags a large fan base with him. I think here he accidentally dragged his fan base into a kind movie that just doesn't appeal to fans of sexy media personalities. In a way, Dep's attractiveness and sex appeal work against his proven ability to be a serious and diverse actor. I never see a film BECAUSE Dep is in it, but I do often watch films that happen to have him in the cast and I frequently marvel at his performances.

A tiny handful of good reviews of this movie and I believe every one, no matter how sincere the opinion or well-argued the case--received ONLY "not helpful" votes. I tried to remedy that. Whenever I encounter that sort of skewed voting on an Amazon item, I sense it's almost always in regard to a product that's controversial and people are voting their personal feelings about the issue, not voting for-or-against the genuine helpfulness of the review in question. Write and post a reasoned, tautly argued negative critique of a Michael Moore film or a book on Intelligent Design and watch the negative votes roll in. It's like running for Congress.

What you're seeing here with these reviews of "The Astronaut's Wife" is American Marketing Culture in action. Anyone shopping for Moore or Intelligent Design or Johnny Dep product on Amazon is already an integral part of that niche market the product is carefully designed for. They've largely made up their minds about the topics at hand, so criticism of the topic (its quality, premises, facts--or lack of them--and conclusions, all legitimate targets for intelligent criticism of any book or film) is absolutely not what they're seeking. They give "not helpful" votes to people who are not part of their niche market or (or tribe or clan or cult, to use more appropriate lingo) and add in the 100th glowing five star review that is less a criticism and more a hymn of devotion and admiration; a vote FOR the the favored topic or beloved personality at hand.

The precise reverse happens here. Fans--through skewed one and two star voting and unrelenting damnation--are letting the world know that they don't ever want to see Dep in another movie that bores THEM. This is a signal to the marketing people who help guide Dep's career and it's a totally legitimate communication from Consumers in a Marketing Culture (and really, what else are we these days?). The feedback just isn't what can be considered serious reviews and criticism.

People who disagree with the democratic mob sentiment--like that sad handful who, in the heat of a revolution, sheepishly raise their hands to vote NO in the token rubberstamp vote on whether to storm the palace--are to be slammed down hard; here by informing them (through unanimous "not helpful" votes) their errant opinion is, more truthfully, "not helpful to the cause"--the "cause" being to never have to endure the discomfort of seeing a beloved media figure perform in a film of a "type" "style" or "genre" that is clearly not enjoyed by these fans.

It's a sad thing to have to note, and I wouldn't be expecting much sympathy for such a view, but within these Amazon pages we may actually be witnessing deep truths about people's perceptions and attitudes about democracy, dissent, opinion, and dialogue.

The superb acting makes this film worth while
While many critics had utter distaste for "The Astronaut's Wife," I happened to enjoy this horror/sci-fi film very much. It's a lot of fun, and it has eerie cinematography that really draws the viewer into the film. But the real thing that makes this not-so-original flick worth while to watch is the superb acting from Johnny Depp ("Sleepy Hollow," "Edward Scissor Hands") and the stunning, absolutely magnificent Charlize Theron ("Devil's Advocate," "2 Days in the Valley"). Both these actors are very talented and perhaps at the top of their generation. Joe Morton (veteran co-star of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Speed") also has a small role here, which makes it all the better.

The film is about an astronaut's wife (Theron) who finds out that her husband (Depp) has come back from space and has been posessed by some alien force. He now has plans on Earth for world domination after he impregnates his wife with his alien children. This is where Morton comes in as he desperately tries to tell the astronaut's wife what is happening. The story moves along at a brisk, yet somewhat predictable pace, and it's really only the ending that proves to have any jolt of suspense and breathless unpredictability. Overall, if you enjoy this type of genre, "The Astronaut's Wife" is well worth your time and money to see.

Recommend this to your friends if you wanna be mean!
I know of someone who told his friends to go see this "really, really good movie called Astronaut's Wife". After seeing the movie, all of his friends wanted to strangle him ... !

I initially had moderate to high hopes for this film, being a horror/sci-fi buff. It was very apparent from the movie's trailer that the story most likely involves the old "alien living inside a person's body" theme, and such was indeed the case. The problem is that the story failed to come up with a new "twist" to this subject to make it even remotely interesting.

If the message still isn't clear at this point, then maybe this will help : AVOID BUYING THIS PATHETIC DVD AT ALL COSTS ! Rent the film and watch it first if you really have to (if only to see Charlize Theron perhaps?) to really understand what I'm talking about. Just don't make the mistaske of spending your hard-earned money on this title.