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."
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."