Noah Hawley gave us some of the best shows on TV today. He’s given us such hits as “Fargo” and “Legion”, both of which are big jits on FX. However, he’s never made the jump to the big screen… Until now. Hawley will be making his feature-length directorial debut with Lucy in the Sky. Is Lucy in the Sky another hit for Hawley or should he just take his talents back to the small screen?
Unfortunately, it seems as his talents are better suited for the little screen. At the very least, work on material that is best for the big screen. He’s creative in his vision but Lucy Cola’s journey just isn’t that interesting.
Lucy in the Sky follows Lucy Cola, an astronaut who comes back to Earth to mundane life in Texas. Longing for a return back to the stars, she inadvertently falls for a fellow astronaut. Thus, her best-laid plans are beginning to unravel right before her eyes.
The Lisa Nowak story became infamous for the urban legend about her being in adult diapers. For whatever reason, Noah Hawley decided to make his directorial debut with a loose adaptation of this story. Luckily, Hawley made a film that took the Nowak story and filled in the gaps with something original. It’s a bit interesting to see the lead up to the infamous airport story.
Unfortunately, spends a lot of time creating opportunities for audiences to sympathize with her. The problem is that her behavior may rub people the wrong way. Her strong obsessive personality and her aggressive attitude to get back into space paint her as a mentally unstable person. She doesn’t seem like a person you root for. Instead, she seems like someone you root against.
Even the characters you’re supposed to sympathize with are simply bland and stereotypical. Unfortunately, all of this is to help move the story along. For example, Lucy’s husband is a complete and total doofus. So, of course, she would leave him to be with a bad boy sex god. After all, she’s a rebel too.
It’s just a shame that both the main characters in the film are unlikeable too. In general, they are crappy people who live their lives without any sort of conscience. It’s no wonder that the film fails from a character drama standpoint.
From a storytelling standpoint, Lucy in the Sky does take some risks. In today’s society where women are fighting for equality, it’s interesting to see how that would eventually make her turn crazy. However, the film messily mixes in the affair aspect of Nowak’s storyline. As a result, it doesn’t know if her love affair made her go crazy or if the glass ceiling did. Maybe it was both, but then again it’s up to interpretation.
Despite all these issues, at least the film is nice to look at. Though you should know that the film plays with the aspect ratio a lot to tell the story. When the film is in a 4:3 format, the film gets up close and personal. When the film goes 16:9, Lucy in the Sky opens up and becomes grander. However, the film loves to transition between aspect ratios a lot. At times it can be creative. Other times, it becomes a total distraction.
Overall, Lucy in the Sky is a soulless and bland directorial debut for Noah Hawley. Thanks to the fearless performance by Natalie Portman, this film could’ve been worse. She gives the film a hundred and ten percent, but it’s a shame that the film didn’t give her the same in return.
Rating: 2.5/5 atoms
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