X
- 2017
- PG-13
- STX Entertainment
- 2 h
- 2017
- PG-13
- STX Entertainment
- 2 h
Summary After arriving to help colonize Mars, an astronaut dies while giving birth to the first human born on the red planet – never revealing who the father is. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield) – an inquisitive, highly intelligent boy who reaches the age of 16 having only met 14 people in his very unconvent...
Directed By: Peter Chelsom
Written By: Allan Loeb, Stewart Schill, Richard Barton Lewis
- 2017
- PG-13
- STX Entertainment
- 2 h
- 2017
- PG-13
- STX Entertainment
- 2 h
The Space Between Us
33
5.2
Where to Watch
Summary After arriving to help colonize Mars, an astronaut dies while giving birth to the first human born on the red planet – never revealing who the father is. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield) – an inquisitive, highly intelligent boy who reaches the age of 16 having only met 14 people in his very unconvent...
Directed By: Peter Chelsom
Written By: Allan Loeb, Stewart Schill, Richard Barton Lewis
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 32 Critic Reviews
33
3% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
47% Mixed
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
50% Negative
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 32 Critic Reviews
33
3% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
47% Mixed
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
50% Negative
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
While director Peter Chelsom (Funny Bones, Serendipity) can functionally guide his cast through their derring-do and dewy-eyed paces, neither he nor screenwriter Allan Loeb can steer the whole endeavor out of Clichéville U.S.A.
It presents a compelling situation, genuinely touching moments and pockets of strong acting ... and dialogue that has people in the audience turning to each other and laughing because it’s so absurd.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 87 User Ratings
5.2
37% Positive
32 Ratings
32 Ratings
33% Mixed
29 Ratings
29 Ratings
30% Negative
26 Ratings
26 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 87 User Ratings
5.2
37% Positive
32 Ratings
32 Ratings
33% Mixed
29 Ratings
29 Ratings
30% Negative
26 Ratings
26 Ratings
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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Some have said that the story line is predictable, but I didn't quite anticipate the ending myself. You can look at this film in two ways, you can write it off as just another teen movie, or you can choose it see it as something more. I personally think it was a very interesting idea carried out very well with a good plot and great actors. Perhaps some of the science is questionable, but it is set in the future, and no one can really predict where science will be then. It's not just about love, it's about the idea of home, personal identity, and the simple joys of planet Earth. It's definitely worth watching.
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The Space Between Us is not without bright spots (celestial production design dazzles, Butterfield’s niceties are refreshing in today’s day and age), but it’s ultimately more a slog than serendipitous romance.
A shameless pastiche of Starman’s alien-on-Earth sci-fi, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble’s medical pathos and any number of young-lovers-on-the-run stories, The Space Between Us may set back the Earth-Mars relationship light years.
This is a saccharine science fiction romance that doesn’t actually concern itself with science fiction or romance; instead, it’s the equivalent of astronaut ice cream, lacking in substance and crumbling to bits at the slightest pressure.
Chelsom applies the middle-school-dance sentimentality with a ladle, leaning heavily on the tinkle of an overbearing score and a soundtrack of generic, cost-efficient pop cues.
It’s hard not to engage in eye-rolling over what already promises to be one of 2017’s worst movies: The Space Between Us spends so much time piling one daffy, laughable plot beat upon another that it never bothers to nail down the characters.
I really enjoyed this film - its family friendly and its got a nice innocent feel to it, after some of the heavier films I've seen as of late. I thought it featured some decent CGI effects and I thought Asa Butterfield gave a good performance, as the child born in space who had never visited earth and was determined to meet a girl on the planet he came from. I enjoyed watching it, so I would recommend it.
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The Space Between Us retreads a lot of familiar themes and plot ideas from other sci-fi movies you've seen before. Its cast and performances are likeable but don't really do anything extraordinary to make them really shine. It doesn't do anything really memorable, but at the very least is still an entertaining watch if you enjoy sci-fi or teen-romance movies.
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Let me start by saying, I’m a hopeless romantic so this could be the reasoning behind my positive review on this movie. I honestly don’t understand why the critics rated this movie so low. I thought it was cute, adorable, sweet, and a whole lot of fun. I always say I only have time for one to two spaces movies a year, and I’m glad I chose this one.
Opening this movie we meet Gary Oldman’s character Nathaniel Shepherd. He is giving a speech at a convention about NASA’s mission to get to **** introduces the group of astronauts going to space, led by Sarah Elliot. She answers questions from the crowd and tells everyone how excited and honored she is to be a part of such an important mission. Flash forward two months and they are in space. Sarah is very sick, and we learn she’s pregnant. Shepherd and the rest of the ground team at NASA try to figure out how to handle the situation, and are torn between bringing her back and risking the mission, or leaving her to deliver on Mars. They decide on the latter. When Sarah delivers the baby there are consequences and she dies.
We flash forward sixteen years and meet her son, Gardner, played by Asa Butterfield, who has lived on Mars his entire life. He has a close relationship with one of the astronauts on Mars named Kendra, Carla Gugino, who is like a mother to him. He also has an online relationship with a girl named Tulsa, Britt Robertson, and he desperately wants to meet her. However, in order to keep the mission safe and keep NASA from getting a bad reputation, they never told anyone about Gardner or how Sarah died, therefore, Gardner must stay on Mars. Kendra works out a plan to get Gardner to Earth to visit, and when he gets there, we go an adventure of a lifetime.
While this movie isn’t going to win an Oscar or any big awards, it definitely deserves some recognition in my opinion. Asa Butterfield gives a heart-warming performance as the sixteen year old boy who lives on Mars and doesn’t know “how to be a human”. He’s awkward, says what he thinks, and has more love in his heart than most people. I honestly couldn’t imagine anyone who would have been better for this role than him. His relationship with Tulsa was beautiful, and Britt Robertson delivers as the misunderstood foster kid. Together, they help each other be the best version of themselves. Watching their relationship bloom during his days on Earth is sweet and it will make you say “aww”. I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat smiling at the two of them.
Like I said, I know I am a hopeless romantic and that could be one of the reasons I found this film endearing, but I can’t help but love it. I would go watch it again, and I would take my friends. It isn’t as cliche as a Nicholas Sparks film, and it isn’t too old for the age of the characters. It fits perfectly. Gary Oldman delivers a solid performance as well, and we even get to see BD Wong for a small role.
I can’t say I would tell everyone to go pay to see it, because I would hate to disappoint, but I can say that I loved it. It won’t make any top 10 lists for me, but it was cute fun and I think it is something most everyone could enjoy.
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“What is your favourite thing about Earth?”
It may be such a simple yet overwhelming question, considering all the wonderful things that make up our world and each and every little thing that makes up all the good in all our individual lives. Yet one of my favourite slogans so far of 2017 is one that asks very deep and a heavy emotional response.
Sadly, the slogan seems to be one of the very few deep parts that comprise director Peter Chelsom’s newest inspirational film The Space Between Us. The UK director seems to be on some sort of positive cinema boost, given his last film Hector and the Search for Happiness is a parabolic film about one doctor’s real life pursuit of life’s greatest gift.
Sadly, with The Space Between Us, Chelsom’s handle on science fiction is very scarce, even though space accounts for a very small portion of his newest film. The Space Between Us is a love story through and through. Dabbling with elements of the who-dun-it narrative, as well as the coming of age story arc, Space is a modestly budgeted film with some great ambition that really doesn’t live up to the hype and one film that has its gaze far beyond the horizon. Think of it as a film that promises finding the gold at the end of the rainbow, only to really deliver Skittles, I mean, if Skittles are your thing.
The cosmic love story begins well before either of our love birds began their courting, nearly two decades before, when a young and ambitious astronaut, Sarah Elliot (Janet Montgomery) and her crew, become the first group of individuals to colonize and inhabit Mars for four years. Placed in the care of their precarious and idealist leader and founder, Nathaniel Shepard (Gary Oldman), Nathaniel’s Genesis program partners with NASA to deliver Sarah and her sacrificial crew to the unknown planet of Mars. Given that all the numbers, scenarios and outcomes were already pre-planned, the one situation no one anticipated, was Sarah pregnancy. Giving birth and losing her life before she makes it to Mars, the Genesis program agrees to make the child’s birth a complete classified secret. Luckily, Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield) makes it safely to Mars, as we flash forward to Gardner’s adolescents. It is in Mars that Gardner grows up, interacting with the brightest scientists from NASA, who continue to occupy Mars, practically and implicitly contributing to Gardner upbringing, Gardner lacks many average teenage characteristics, despite his closest maternal relationship on the spaceship to botanist Kendra Wyndham (Carla Gugino). Gardner’s intellect is established quite early on, showing off how book smart and scientifically minded the youngster really is.
Bored with nothing but causing chaos aboard the station, Gardner uses his smarts to trick everything and everyone on Mars. Learning of his secrecy to Earth early on, Gardner begins using the Wi-Fi (yup, they have internet in Mars) to make new friends on Earth. Concealing his true identity and current situation to an online friend and potential love interest Tulsa (Britt Robertson), the two spark a friendship that originated on an Orphan based online chat room. As the two orphans begin developing a closer relationship thanks to futuristic FaceTiming and instant messaging to one another, it becomes quite clear that Gardner is ready to finally venture to Earth, despite his physical boundaries and various health issues, including his oversized space heart, brittle bones, his foreignness to gravity and his very poor human social skills.
While Gardner’s time spent on Mars is very limited, his caregiver and closest friend Kendra, begins campaigning for Gardner’s request to visit Earth, not only to finally see Tulsa, but to find out the identity of his father. Half way across the Universe, once on Earth, Gardner surprises Tulsa at school, where the two team up and break many laws in search of Gardner’s father. While discovering America, Gardner falls in love with Tulsa, and the two love birds steal their way to Arizona where they embark on an adventure that involves the Grand Canyon, hot air balloons and some pretty romantic locales.
Sadly, Space is a project that has been in development for quite some time, having Asa attached since before he was casted as Ender Wiggin in the sci-fi Ender’s Game. While many cast and crew moved on, Asa remained attached with the project until it was green lit, with Robertson as his Tulsa. Unfortunately, while Robertson and Butterfield continue to prove their strong acting skills on screen, the two never really convince audiences of their love story and romance, sharing an almost big sister/little brother type relationship instead.
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Production Company
Los Angeles Media Fund (LAMF),
Huayi Brothers Media,
STX Entertainment,
Southpaw Entertainment (I)
Release Date Feb 3, 2017
Duration 2 h
Rating PG-13
Tagline What's Your Favorite Thing About Earth?
Awards
Teen Choice Awards
• 3 Nominations
London Critics Circle Film Awards
• 1 Nomination
