From the director of Hannah Montana the Movie and the screenwriter of Collateral Beauty, (Oh, joy…) bring what I can only describe as The Martian meets The Fault in Our Stars. Good movies I’d rather be watching than this dense of a sci-fi /teen drama mush known as The Space Between Us.
It starts with a somewhat promising premise of Gardner Elliot (Asa Buterfield) the first human born on Mars. He has lived his entire life on Mars after his mother dies in labor, raised by scientists and astronauts with a longing to visit Earth, a request that he has been long denied. According to Nathaniel Shepherd (Gary Oldman), the man in charge of this space project states that Gardner won’t withstand Earth’s atmosphere and gravity mass (something along those lines) due to his body being accustomed to Mars. Unknown to everyone, Garner secretly chats online with Tulsa (Britt Robinson) a tough girl who is unaware of Garner’s location. As soon as Garner is allowed on Earth, its hormones over health as he escapes the facilities, finds Tulsa and go on a road trip to find his father who he believes is alive. All while trying to avoid Nathaniel and the authorities who don’t want to capture and study him for their own nefarious deeds, but to save his life before his body debilitates.
Teens may enjoy this sentimental slop but I was looking at my watch every minute waiting for this to end. Starting out with Hugo and The Boy in Stripe Pajamas to doing let-downs like Miss Peregrines Home of Peculiar Children, Asa Buterfield seems to be going the route of Jaden Smith and Macaulay Culkin; doing good roles as a kid but not finding the same success as they get older. It’s not saying much but this is one of his better roles especially in scenes when he is wide-eyed with every new encounter on Earth. I have nothing against Britt Robinson but her role brought to mind the same know-it-all and overbearing character she played in Tomorrowland who got on my nerves. Gary Oldman is a semi-bright spot but not enough to salvage this flick.
If Forrest Gump is criticized for how everything was well-timed for its titular lead, it goes beyond belief in The Space Between Us. The reason these teens are able to get around quite easily is that people leave their iPads unattended or their cars ajar while still in ignition. Who does that?! That and tons of poorly made choices that would have spared us from this unnecessary drama and make this a mercifully short movie. If you ever wanted to see Nicholas Sparks do a sci-fi story, this is what it would probably be. Take that as you will.
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