The Space Between Us

Son of the Martian Fumbles in Space                                 1/5



Soundtrack
     Typical and generic but there is at least one good theme to hum to in here

Road Trip
     Surprise Surprise its a road trip movie.

Performances
     While certainly not career worthy most of the performances her are passable

Rotten Tomatoes 18%                                  Cinemascore: A-

On a first impression you may think that the premise of The Space Between Us Make would make it a fresh new take on a familiar genre, but after seeing the film I can warn you that this isn't the case. The Space Between Us is a dim, generic romance movie wearing the skin of a sci-fi suit, passing itself off as intelligent and profound when its really the the exact opposite.

In The Space Between Us, Gardner (Butterfield) is the first human to be born on Mars. He grows up alongside scientists, completely isolated from society, leading him to yearn for a human connection that he know he will never have. He chats with a high schooler named Tulsa ((Robertson) and dreams of meeting his father he knows through a photograph. However after a series of events Gardner finds himself on earth, motivating him to seek out his crush and find his father. But as fate would have it, he can't stay on earth too long because its gravity is killing him. So Gardner must win Tulsa's affection and find his father before his heart gives out, all while avoiding Shepard (Oldman) who wants to send him back to Mars and out of the public eye.

Whatever credit my summery does or does not do to your interest in the movie will have no bearing on your enjoyment of the film. As hinted above, much of this film is a road trip movie, abandoning whatever favors its absurd set up does it for. Butterfield and Robertson quickly fall victim to the cliches of the genre, as the clumsy script pushes them through the motions of a modern teen romance without any rhyme or reason. There is no soul or passion here, there is no depth or sense to the narrative despite what is scientifically accurate or inaccurate. My enjoyment of the film is completely derivative of the various times I burst out laughing due to laps of judgement or logic that the film jumps to dramatically and often (to which if I acknowledged as credible I would be giving this movie a much higher score). Gardner falls from the stars to find his love, but I'm afraid to enjoy The Space Between Us you need to have your head in the clouds.