Lucy in the Sky (2019) User Reviews

fly me to the moon - to get away from this movie

[ferguson-6 · 4/10 · 11 October 2019]

Greetings again from the darkness. 'Space - the final frontier.' Well, that wasn't the case for real life astronaut Lisa Nowak. In 2007, Nowak made the national news for her cross-country, diaper-wearing road trip that ended with her being arrested in Orlando for attempted kidnapping. Nowak had been a Navy pilot and conducted spacewalks as an astronaut. She had been married and divorced from a NASA contractor, and the purpose of her long drive to Orlando was to kidnap the astronaut she had an affair with and the astronaut that she had been dumped for by that astronaut (the other one she was kidnapping). Noah Hawley's feature film directorial debut is "inspired by true events", and about the only thing missing is those diapers.

OK, that's not the only thing. Also missing are a coherent story, believable dialogue, a realistic Texas accent, a competent psychologist, and an inspiring story of girl power. Natalie Portman plays Lucy Cola, and the film opens with her being filled with awe during a spacewalk that will forever make life on Earth seem small ... even while her dreadful accent (with San Angelo gun joke) tortures the ears of every viewer. Jon Hamm co-stars as astronaut Mark Goodwin, the "action-figure" prize in the eyes of Lucy. This despite Lucy's cheery, stable and very grounded husband Drew (Dan Stevens), who works in NASA Public Relations. Playing the 4th wheel in what should have been two separate two-wheelers is astronaut Erin Eccles (an underutilized Zazie Beetz). Thankfully, Ellen Burstyn is around to inject some raunchy old woman humor and life lessons as Lucy's Nana. For no apparent reason, other than possibly in hopes of attracting a younger audience, Pearl Amanda Dixon plays Iris, Lucy's teenage niece. Iris spends most of the movie casting confused looks at her famous aunt, wondering why Nana told her to take any advice from Lucy.

Noah Hawley is best known for his excellent TV work with "Fargo", and here is credited as co-writer with Brian C Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi. It's the first feature film for all three and it shows. There are some interesting ideas and approaches, but most of the stylistic attempts are just too much: the non-stop shifting of aspect ratios, the by design blurring (out of focus) images, and the Malick-type edits early on, are all more distracting than artistic.

There are some intriguing bits to Lucy's character. She's a woman in a field dominated by Type A men, and she matches or exceeds all in determination, grit and expertise. It's only after she is "star struck" that she begins her descent into mental and emotional instability. As she loses herself, there is a scene where Hamm's Goodwin is watching the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy over and over. That scene probably offers more insight into being an astronaut than most anything we see from Lucy. As for the finale, it's a rain-soaked mess, and perhaps drives home the point that the filmmakers were handcuffed by a true life story that was simply too bizarre to work as a movie ... especially since they left out the diapers.

Better than expected but misleadingly marketed (NOT a space or sci-fi movie)

[paul-allaer · 6/10 · 14 October 2019]

"Lucy In the Sky" (2019 release; 124 min.) brings the story of Lucy. As the movie opens, Lucy is doing a space walk near the International Space Station, where the Shuttle has brought the astronauts. Lucy is overwhelmed by the experience. Upon returning to earth, we get to know her husband who also works at NASA. It becomes clear very quickly that Lucy is having a hard time readjusting to life on earth, her husband calling it suffering from "rocketlag".Meanwhile Lucy feels a special bond with Mark, who also has flown on the Space Shuttle... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the first feature-length from debut director Noah Hawley, best known for his TV work including "Fargo". Here he brings a story to the screen that is "Inspired by real events", as we are informed at the beginning of the movie. Indeed, the story reminds of the real life story of astronaut Lisa Nowak, who did a space mission with the Shuttle in 2006 (can't tell you more as it would spoil your viewing experience). Let's be clear: "Lucy In the Sky" is NOT a space movie a la the recent "Ad Astra" or "Gravity" a few years ago. In fact, there are only a few scenes set in space, with a total screen time of about 5 minutes. The movie tells us what happens to Lucy AFTER she returns back to earth. In that sense, the movie's marketing campaign and trailer is completely misleading, I'm sorry to say. Natalie Portman as Lucy does the best that she can in what is a challenging script, certainly in the movie's first hour. If you wonder whether the movie contains the Beatles song "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds", it does (covered by Lisa Hannigan). I noticed in the end credits that Reece Witherspoon is one of the producers. One definitive positive is the movie's original score, an orchestral instrumental composed by Jeff Russo, and one I plan on checking out further.

"Lucy In the Sky" premiered to negative criticism at last month's Toronto International Film Festival, and has remained under clouds ever since. After opening in a few cities last weekend, the movie rolled out to more cities this weekend, and opened on 3 screens for all of Greater Cincinnati (population: 2.5 million). The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati turned out to be a private screening, as I was literally the only person in the theater. In short: this movie has bombed completely at the box office, and I can't see it getting a much wider (or longer) theater run. I was aware of the negative reviews and criticisms going into the theater today, and hence my expectations were low, very low indeed. Hence I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a complete disaster, and the 2 hours flew by pretty quickly. If you are interested in a flawed yet worthwhile character study (and then some), I'd suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (doubtful at this point), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

Quite boring to be honest.

[deloudelouvain · 5/10 · 25 December 2019]

I have to agree with most of the reviewers on here, this movie didn't deliver at all. I had high expectations, was hoping for a decent sci-fi movie but instead I got a quite boring drama. I wouldn't say the actors were bad, far from that, Natalie Portman and the rest did their job, but the story was just weak, certainly for the first half of the movie. The movie was also much too long, certainly for the story they wanted to tell. I wouldn't waste too much time on this one if I were you.

This Movie Has Nowhere To Go

[kjproulx · 3/10 · 13 September 2019]

Deep character studies can make fantastic films if you have a great performance behind the character. Movies about post-traumatic stress can add a level of drama that a lot of films simply can't. In the case of Lucy in the Sky, this is a film that deals with both for the entire duration. So, what went wrong here? This movie is proof that not every true story will make a worthwhile feature film. This is one of the worst films of the year.

Following Lucy (Natalie Portman) as she arrives back on Earth after a mission in space, a combination of wishing to go back and not wanting the life she original had begins to take her over. Not only does could that set-up lend itself to a fascinating character study, but I would have preferred it to not be a true story. As I said, this story doesn't have enough depth to lend itself to a full feature film. After setting up where this character has been and where she is now, Lucy in the Sky has nowhere to go.

Natalie Portman is completely committed to this character and is easily the biggest saving grace of this film. On top of her great performance, there is a very unique way this film is presented. With aspect ration constantly changing throughout the film, it felt like a neat little experiment to have the shape of the screen feel like it was how Lucy was feeling in the moment. Sadly, both of these elements deserved a better film to be a part of. Never once I feel that this was a great character being explored, but rather just a great character, not being explored enough, placed in a terrible film.

I could try to find positives in the fact that the space sequences are beautiful to look at in terms of visual effects, but those sequences end after the first five minutes. The addition of performers like Jon Hamm or Zazie Beetz should normally feel like an elevation, but they're ultimately underused. The climax of this film felt like it should have taken place toward the middle of the movie, because it wasn't all that exciting and like the rest of the movie, pretty much goes nowhere and makes you question what the point of this movie even was.

I'm not one who usually bashed on a film, because I like to see the good in most movies, but it's very difficult when a director like Noah Hawley, who I have loved on many television projects, chooses a poor first outing for his feature film debut. After watching this film at the Toronto International Film Festival, it became the first film that I've ever seen at a festival that I straight-up disliked. There are saving graces when it comes to Natalie Portman, the visual presentation, and even the direction by Noah Hawley, in terms of getting great performances out of everyone, but this is one of the weakest stories that I've seen on the big screen in years.

It's a mess

[tiff-ing · 3/10 · 13 September 2019]

Pretty disappointed in this one. While Natalie Portman's performance is excellent, as is Jon Hamm's, nothing could save this mess of ideas from itself.

Lucy Cola comes back from space and can't adjust to the smallness of her life. Her husband can't understand. It seems like maybe Mark, a fellow astronaut who's done more tours that she has, does, so Lucy begins an affair with him. But Lucy's displacement is making it hard for her to stay grounded, per se, and she slowly delves into her own madness. There are side storylines about Lucy's take-no-prisoners grandmother and how Lucy became as strong as she did, as well as Lucy's teenaged niece, who is staying with them. But basically, the story is threadbare. It should have relied on strong characters. But nothing felt very authentic to me - not the emotions, not the way the characters reacted. For a film that seemed to be celebrating, or at least admiring Lucy's strong work ethic in a man's world, I felt that the filmmakers dove a little dangerously into archetypal female reactions at times.

There were a few moments when the form follows function aspects of the filmmaking (letterboxing to widescreen, fisheye lens, background sound) worked very well, and more moments where it was completely incongruous to the story and felt like the filmmakers were just trying to make something artsy and cool (superimposing the moments over the stars, so cheesy; conveyor belt for hospital scene). In the end, the whole thing just didn't hold together and the themes seemed muddled at best. Wish I'd liked this more.

A Miscalculated Mess

[imjaredross · 4/10 · 21 December 2019]

Lucy in the Sky is inspired by true events in the most artificial sense. Telling the story of an Astronaut dealing her own sanity. The film means well. It clearly has something to say, but I fails to give anything to us in a meaningful way.

Natalie Portman gives it her all, playing a character that is losing herself and has a lot of emotional baggage. She's terrific, but sadly the rest of the film is not. Lucy in the Sky is a miscalculated mess, with so many things in it and so little as well that it's hard to remain engaged.

The movie feels empty, emotionless and very dull. The only thing of visual interest are when then the aspect ratio of the film changes throughout the film. We go from 4:3 to 16:9 and more. The screen shrinks grows and it all seems based on how our character is feeling at the time. It's interesting, but proves to be a large distraction.

The film ultimately has nothing to really offer. There's no incite, no intrigue and it's ultimately empty. Natalie Portman does her best as do the rest of the cast, but it ends up just being a failed film with good ideas executed poorly.

I'm baffled by the reviews.

[leopoldfrank-1 · 7/10 · 29 December 2019]

This movie is a solid 7.5. It's a solid study of a character's mind unwinding. Perhaps a few of the directorial decisions were unwise but I see no way in which they undermined the movie to the extent that it is a 36 metacritic/22 rotten tomatoes. It is honestly baffling to me. The garbage I have seen get positive ratings and this gets that? It honestly boggles the mind.

It is a promising first movie from the very talented Noah Hawley and I seriously hope the bizarre reaction to this movie does not hamper his future career. I love movies and tv that are different and interesting and Noah Hawley is in the highest league of talent in that area.

Just a mess of a movie

[prberg2 · 2/10 · 4 October 2019]

This movie is just really painful. I wanted to walk out a few times. The story is just lame and a real mess. Portman does a decent job in the role... but the movie doesn't know what it is or what to do with it's actors. In the end I didn't care at all about the characters and the story just didn't' go anywhere.

Seemed like it might be interesting... but ended up being just a bit waste of time.

Very boring

[Gordon-11 · 22 December 2019]

The plot is just boring and doesn't go anywhere. Lucy's life and experiences aren't interesting, and I have no interest in the plot at all. I don't see the point of this film. What a huge waste of Natalie and Jon.

Much better than its rep

[basscadet75 · 7/10 · 4 February 2020]

This movie generated some pretty negative vibes even before its release, and I myself was caught up in that - the trailer looked absolutely awful, with its hackneyed drama and Natalie Portman's ridiculous sounding southern drawl. The fact that it was based on a real-life story somehow made it seem worse, as if the film was exploiting an actual astronaut who'd suffered a mental breakdown.

I ended up watching it on the plane - twice. It's one of those situations where you've got nothing to lose, so heck, let's see if it's as bad as it looked. (The second time, on the return trip, I wanted to confirm my reaction or see if I'd had one too many tiny bottles of vodka the first time around.) And guess what? It's not! It's really not! It is, in fact, pretty good, especially if you're already a fan of Portman and Jon Hamm and you like movies about space and our place in it (which this indirectly is, or tries to be).

For one thing, it's much more sympathetic to the real-life Lisa Nowak (whose name is oddly changed to Lucy Cola in the film) than the marketing made it seem. It's far from exploitative, but neither is it an exoneration - it is simply an explanation, and that's about the best anyone could have done with this story. Lucy is someone that a lot of stuff happens to - more than most people - and it all makes her question who she is and what she's doing here. But her actions at the end of the film - the infamous act that made national headlines - are left open-ended in terms of her true motivation and what she was really trying to do.

It is a strange film in that it starts very weakly, and it probably lost about half the audience within the first couple scenes. The first scene feels like a complete ripoff of Gravity's opening, minus the excitement. Then Portman's drawl kicks in, which is just jarring at first - though as the film goes on, I began to realize it was really my expectations that were the problem rather than her performance. (You just don't expect her to sound like that.) In fact, she's quite good throughout the film; her performance builds, and you start to notice all the little things she's doing. Facial expressions, nervous tics, etc.

Lots of people have made jokes about the movie omitting the diapers from the final scene. Know why they did that? Because it didn't happen. It was made up by the media. No doubt, so were a lot of other things in this movie for dramatic effect, so what's one more, right? But that would have pushed the film over the edge into exploitation and rumor-mongering, and maybe even slander. (The film outright claims in a title card to be based on true events; it's not pretending to be fictional.) I was actually glad that they omitted that little factoid.

The film does have its share of flaws, the biggest being that it's ponderous at times, and it has a sense of self-importance that it doesn't really deserve. It is at heart a family drama that happens to involve an astronaut, and that's what makes it interesting and different. But it tries hard at various points to make the story bigger than it is - it's a systemic NASA issue, it's sexism, it's something that changes inside everyone when they see how small and insignificant humanity is, and she just couldn't handle it. All of these things probably played some role for the real Lisa Nowak, but the bottom line is that she was just a person who was an astronaut who had a breakdown. If the film had stayed a little more down to earth and personal, it would have done better. But it's still worth watching, and it doesn't deserve the hate it's gotten.

Yawn...

[ryan-elliotte · 4/10 · 20 January 2020]

I didn't like her as a person, not helped by the performance... I didn't sympathise with anything going on in her life either. I appreciate the telling of a person suffering from unique mental health issues, slowly but surely spiralling out of control, but that's the only aspect I feel was even remotely interesting.

4.5/10 - meh

Fall back to Earth

[gatcgatcc · 9/10 · 14 October 2019]

Profound and respectful portrayal of a person's fall into obsession and dysfunction after completing the pinnacle achievement of her life's pursuit only to lose purpose and meaning in everything else. Illustration of the psychological struggles and self destructive depths other historical champions might have endured such as George Eastman and Meriwether Lewis, not in the movie. Ms Portman's swagger, cougar gait and neurotic episodes were performed perfectly. I couldn't think of anything else while watching, which is the kind of movie experience I'm looking for.

Keep the baby aspirin handy

[juneebuggy · 7/10 · 22 July 2021]

Weird little movie but I liked it. Mostly down to Natalie Portman who acts her ass off as her mind unravels. Enjoyed her a lot. However the way its been filmed, aspect, ratio and blurry at times on the bottom of the screen as if looking through a bottle had me thinking my vison was playing tricks on me or I was having a wee stroke. Didn't enjoy that and it took me out of the movie as I searched for the baby aspirin.

Interesting, based on true story, which follows astronaut Lucy Cola, who after a life altering experience into deep space must return to earth and reintegrate into everyday life, i.e. Her dull husband, marriage and day to day boredom. Soon Lucy's cosmic experience begin to take a toll on her connection to the real world .

Good cast, Jon Hamm as playboy astronaut, Ellen Burstyn as drinking, smoking, f-bombing grandma. Many other familiar faces. The space program seems pretty relaxed with all the drinking and showing up when you want sorta thing.

watched it for to long to justify turning it off

[plagmhome · 4/10 · 11 November 2020]

Can't say much about this, Portman's accent is almost as bad a s the wig she wears in it, (apologies if its not a wig,)

disappointed was hoping for more.

We look for anything over 5/10 to at least make it pass some of the many hours pass during our extended time at home, this is where we draw the line of Passable, anything below this we would not recommend as it would be better to paint a wall then watch it dry.

should have just told the real story

[smoke0 · 1 February 2020]

The real story behind this film is so much more interesting, along with the actual people involved. This easily could have been an engaging study of the real woman, instead of the vague cypher that camera tricks do nothing to explain or enhance.

Not even the talents of Natalie Portman could save this mess

[giuseppeianniello · 4/10 · 15 August 2021]

I truly wanted to love this movie, on the exterior it looked amazing, it had a promising plot, amazing actors and the creator of the Fargo tv series Noah Hawley on the director's chair.

What could possibly go wrong?

Interesting plot wasted on total boredom, pretty sure that they got some of the science wrong and despite some amazing acting from Natalie Portman, Ellen Burstyn, Jon Hamm, etc. And good cinematography, they couldn't unfortunately save this forgettable mess.

In short: An Oscar-bait movie that you will forget the day after.

WIG

[fmadariaga-37656 · 4/10 · 18 July 2021]

Everything was barely acceptable up until the hardware store scene, where she buys a hammer, a knife, ropes AND A WIG all items together in the same shelf of a hardware store!!! A woman's wig??? Come on, man!

These things get me out of the movie.

Maybe that's why Hawley so often shifts the aspect ratio: something has to move with a main character that static.

[eminkl · 3/10 · 7 October 2019]

Lucy in the sky is a first-time filmmaker's work that definitely appears as if he's got to prove something. Noah Hawley, the director, who comes from television and novels, is his first feature. The story is a real one "inspired by," which captured the morbid fascination of the country.

Many will probably remember the exploits of an astronaut driving almost non-stop about 900 miles, apparently planning to kill a fellow astronaut who had scorned her romantically. That was great news, if only because it was so strange.The detail that she might have worn adult diapers to make the trip with fewer stops- a detail denied by the astronaut- could have been considered admirably shrewd, if not for her intentions.

This film is also strange, though not quite like the real-life story. Hawley, working with Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi from a screenplay he co-wrote, could be commended for avoiding an exploitative approach to this tale. On the other hand, the story of the film seems to be so far removed from what actually happened that exploitation seems almost impossible in certain and important respects.

What we get instead is a character study of an astronaut who, having first-hand seen the great expanse of the universe (she must have excellent eyesight, considering that she is spending her only mission in space in orbit around Earth), is experiencing an existential crisis. The premise is intriguing from a philosophical perspective, although it is a bit stupid from a psychological level. With its trivial problems and monotonous routines, the everyday world must seem even more trivial and monotonous compared to the seemingly or indeed infinite.

That's Lucy Cola's dilemma (Natalie Portman, who, despite everything else, is quite good). She was in space, and things seem quite boring when she returns to her husband Drew (Dan Stevens).

Hawley has the screen shrink sideways to give us a sense of this and expand vertically from a widescreen frame to the Academy ratio boxy frame. He does this frequently and with even more extreme variations, at least twice going from the claustrophobic box to a super-wide panoramic view and once when Lucy moves around her house, the box image moves back and forth within the screen frame.

The first time Hawley does it, we get the trick point. It just turns out to be trying too hard after the second or third time. By the end of the film, we begin to wonder if the filmmaker has lost a frame concept, let alone the visual trickery's initial purpose.

Anyway, while preparing for another space mission, Lucy ends up having an affair with Mark Goodwin (Jon Hamm), a fellow astronaut whom poor, nice-beyond reason Drew calls a "ladies ' man." A workaholic who became so under the tutelage of her harsh and judgmental grandmother Nana (Ellen Burstyn), Lucy continues to be driven by the idea of going back to space. In the meantime, she becomes obsessed with Mark, who also seems to have eyes for Erin Eccles (Zazie Beetz) rookie astronaut-in-training.

This is the plot. However, the story is about living inside the head of Lucy, which has to seem to Lucy about as dull and repetitive as the meager lives of people who have not been in the orbit of Earth. Maybe that's why Hawley so often shifts the aspect ratio: something has to move with a main character that static.

The screenplay mostly ignores Lucy's state of mind's philosophical dilemmas, except for characters to raise them as a way to hammer home because of the slow deterioration of Lucy's mental state. That's because the screenwriters really want us to buy into their psychoanalytic premise- that going into space can make a person go insane without question, to put it as bluntly as they do. The character has little else to explain her behaviour, except for her drive to be the best at all, which means nothing when the end goal is another trip to space and her ultimate breakdown comes when she is denied that chance.

Due to the fact that Lucy has a companion on her road trip and her motive is not about jealousy, that climatic turn is considerably altered from the true story. It's about getting back to a man who's crushing her dream - apparently like so many men who aren't in the real story.

The filmmakers pull this idea out of the blue, perhaps to give some revisionist dignity to Lucy's real-life inspiration in the sky. Whatever the reason, in a story that struggles to find any until then, it just feels like a desperate grasp of meaning.

'You go up there, you see the whole universe, and everything here looks so small'

[gradyharp · 6/10 · 1 June 2020]

Based on real life events - astronaut Lisa Nowak's criminal activities around her relationship with fellow astronaut William Oefelein in 2006 - 2007 - and altered into the present form by writers Brian C. Brown, Elliott DiGuiseppi and director Noah Hawley, LUCY IN THE SKY is a controversial film. While the messages are mixed, one interesting idea rises: does space travel transiently or even permanently change thought perceptions, thinking and behavior?

Lucy Cola (Natalie Portman) is a strong woman whose determination and drive as an astronaut take her to space, where she's deeply moved by the transcendent experience of seeing her life from afar. Back home as Lucy's world suddenly feels too small, her connection with reality slowly unravels, as her marriage to Drew Cola (Dan Stevens) and her love affair with Mark Goodwin (John Hamm), and the death of her cocky mother (Ellen Burstyn) implode. Lucy communicates with space, gets lost in words, and isn't able to cope, leading to dire circumstances.

The highlight of this overly long film is the CGI effects in space. While Natalie Portman shines as the very strange Lucy her obtrusive artificial accent and communication diminish her credibility as a character about whom we can care. Some good ideas her, but the film simply dissolves - drifting off into space...

Natalie Portman is horrible in this (just this? hahaha)

[fluffchop · 1/10 · 7 August 2021]

Her acting is stilted. It's a very boring movie. Not just boring but also NOT a sci-fi or a thriller. Her haircut is just awful to look at. Her fake accent just grates on your ears. I just hated this movie the longer I watched it. 42 minutes was all I could take.

Much Better Than the Low Scores Would Indicate

[Jisk · 7/10 · 13 October 2019]

Natalie Portman is Outstanding in this film about a tightly-wound, super-achiever astronaut whose life flips on its end once she returns to earth from space. It's based on a true story but it's really an elegant psychological film that shows Lucy's state of mind as it unravels. Critics are taking issue with the shifting aspect ratios in the film but I had no problem with it - it was an effect I have never seen used before in a film and although I didn't love it (it did somewhat draw attention to itself) it pretty much worked. The cinematography overall reflected her state of mind and was elegant and ethereal. The supporting performances are also OUTSTANDING. Jon Hamm is terrific as the womanizing astronaut and Dan Stevens is unrecognizable as her clean-cut husband. The only character that's a bit of a cypher is the niece, who seems a little lost in the movie and doesn't really communicate any particular point of view. Is she upset about her aunt's antics? We aren't sure. The actress is a little too passive in the role I think and therefore the relationship between then doesn't quite come off. But the other performances are really great. Overall, it's a thoughtful film that wrestles with a woman's humanness in the face of her own existential dilemma: do the rules I have been following all my life really mean anything? Have I been achieving my whole, becoming almost superhuman, only to to end up a regular old human after all, humbled by the cosmos. 7/10

A boring movie about a woman who has the greatest job ever!

[subxerogravity · 5/10 · 8 October 2019]

Following on the foot steps of Joaquin Phoenix who stars in Joker and Rene Zellweger who stars in Judy comes Natalie Portman in another movie that feels like the lead is trying to win an Oscar. As a fan of NASA it's a movie I'm glad I saw. It seems that their is a psychological break down that can happen to astronauts who have been to space and this is about one of them, a fictional story based on real events. As Lucy is a space walker freshly back on Earth who goes a little mad in her attempt to get back up there. I'm familiar with the withdrawal the chosen few get, when they see Earth in it's entirely than have to come back to the planet, but this movie talks about how bad it can get. Watching this unfold on the silver screen is not as interesting as it sounds, despite how much great acting talent they have all over this thing. If the condition is real, the filmmakers spent way too much time being respectful of it rather than making a great movie. My only interest in the film is as someone who thinks being an astronaut is cool, but the movie is dull.

Not that bad and much better than expected

[UniqueParticle · 8/10 · 31 May 2020]

Misleading barely a space movie more of drama about the aftermath from when Lucy was in space at the beginning of the movie. A spiral of emotions throughout, a little odd and misunderstood! Natalie Portman is an incredible actress regardless of the flaws! Great cinematography and drama; sure it could've been better but I see what Noah Hawley tried to do.

A Coarse Unraveling On All Fronts

[dmdcheney · 6/10 · 5 October 2020]

There were moments with this film when I was uncertain as to what I was watching. I got it in the beginning, lost it a bit in the middle, then felt a somewhat disjointed in the end. *At one point I thought the film was masquerading the 2007 true life story of Astronaut Lisa Nowak who wore space diapers so she could travel from Houston to Orlando, without bathroom breaks, in order to confront her astronaut lover's astronaut girlfriend. Yet every scene that allowed for a closeup of Lucy's (Natalie Portman) eyes, reminded me that what was really going on was intelligent filmmaking. The delivery of a story from the inside out, rather than outside in. Viewers are invited to experience a tightly wound, highly accomplished woman, struggle to make sense of the incomprehensible. We were intimately privy to Lucy's psyche as she slowly unraveled; first -professionally, then spiritually, then emotionally, and finally, mentally.

Lucy's inability to reconcile the perspective she gained as a spacewoman, with the reality of being a virtual housewife, was palatable. I too was going "mad" watching the juxtaposition from my lounger. I felt for Lucy. I saw someone akin to an addict, desperate for another hit -her very being unable to cope without a "fix".

All in all I enjoyed "Lucy In The Sky". It annoys me that anytime a film involves "space," viewers are looking for rocket launches, laser beams, and aliens. How about just accepting the occasional character study? I mean, really, put yourself in the shoes of an astronaut. How completely transcendent must it be to see your world from 100,000 miles? Your home reduced to a sparkling blue marble in an ocean of darkness? How greatly must one's perspective be changed on all fronts? How does one breathe simple air, accept marginalization, when they've bathed the mysterious unencumbered? -Go from "weightlessness" to the weight of everyday life? Deafening quiet, to noise.

On his return to earth, Apollo 14 Astronaut Alan Shepard said, "I realized up there that our planet is not infinite. It is fragile ...

"We look pretty vulnerable in the darkness of space," he said, while Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who underwent a spiritual enlightenment in space, said, "My view of our planet was a glimpse of divinity."

Houston...We have a problem.

[xdguy · 3/10 · 16 June 2020]

And the problem is this movie was made. I wanted to like it and watched the whole thing to find the spot I was going to like or that would make the movie memorable and when that didn't happen I had wasted the two hours it took to get through the movie that could not be. For a movie starting in space it never really took off.

• i felt let down. After the credits scrolled up. Glad I didn't pay to see this.