Lucy in the Sky

 

Directed by Noah Hawley and screenplay by Hawley, Brian C. Brown, and Elliott DiGiuseppi from a story by Brown and DiGiuseppi, Lucy in the Sky is the story of an astronaut whose experience in space has her lose sight with reality. The film is a drama where a woman deals with life back on Earth as it is sort of based on the real life story of Lisa Nowak and her criminal activities relating to her romantic affair with a fellow astronaut. Starring Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm, Zazie Beetz, Dan Stevens, Nick Offerman, Tig Notaro, Jeffrey Donovan, Colman Domingo, and Ellen Burstyn. Lucy in the Sky is a messy and nonsensical film from Noah Hawley.

The film follows an astronaut who is eager to return to space but becomes disconnected with reality just as she begins an affair with another astronaut that eventually becomes troublesome. It’s a film that plays into a woman’s emotional and mental descent as she embarks on a tumultuous affair with a colleague as well as trying to go back to outer space despite the presence of a younger candidate who wants her spot. The film’s screenplay play into the descent that its protagonist Lucy Cola (Natalie Portman) endures as well as her desire to relive the experience of being in outer space yet it also goes into places where the narrative isn’t sure where it wants to go and what it wants to be. Notably as it doesn’t do enough to explore Lucy’s mental issues following her return from space as she believes she is alright despite the concerns of Dr. Will Plimpton (Nick Offerman). The man Lucy has an affair with in a fellow astronaut in Mark (Jon Hamm) is someone who says a lot of things but he also has kids and not much is known whether he’s married or divorced as he also has interest in Lucy’s new rival in Erin (Zazie Beetz).

If the script’s problems in establishing characters and its lack of exploration of Lucy’s disconnect with reality, Noah Hawley’s direction for the film is what makes everything fall apart. Shot on location in Southern California with some of it as part of Texas and Florida, the film has no clue on what it wanted to be where Hawley wanted to make this drama of a woman’s mental struggles but also this romantic drama with no sense of cohesive direction. Even in some of Hawley’s approach to wide and medium shots have him using different aspect ratios where some of the scenes on Earth including Lucy’s home with her husband Drew (Dan Stevens) and their niece Blue Iris (Pearl Amanda Dickson) are shot in a 1:33:1 aspect full-frame ratio where there’s some scenes shot in 1:85:1 and 2:35:1 aspect ratios as it gets confusing. Even where Hawley is trying to use the framing devices as a form of style but it ends up being a total distraction to the story as it would change every time until Hawley until sticks with one for its third act.

Hawley does use some close-ups that includes a scene where Lucy is training underwater as water went inside her helmet during the training scenario as she was able to finish it but raises concern about her mental state. It’s a rare good scene in a film that just gets crazier as the third act includes scenes that needed humor. Especially in light of the real-life stories that the film is based on yet it never goes there as Hawley just makes it dramatic leading up to this insane confrontation between Lucy and Mark as the aftermath of it is just a hollow and underwhelming resolution into what happened to her in the end. Even as it feels like it has been rushed and without explanation of how she got to the end as it’s just lazy storytelling. Overall, Hawley crafts an idiotic and humorless film about an astronaut who loses grip with reality as she engages into an affair with another astronaut that leads to chaos and stupidity.

Cinematographer Polly Morgan does excellent work with the film’s cinematography in its emphasis on low-key lights for many of the interiors in the day and night as well as some vibrant lighting for the scenes at the training stations. Editor Regis Kimble does a fine job in the editing despite the over-usage of jump-cuts to play into Lucy’s paranoia and troubled state of mind as it really does make the film jarring for much of it. Production designer Stefania Cella, with set decorator Jon J. Bush and art director Samantha Avila, does fantastic work with the look of the home that Lucy and her husband live in as well as Mark’s office. Costume designer Louise Frogley does nice work with the costumes as it is largely casual including the clean-cut look of Drew.

Special effects supervisor Mark R. Byers and visual effects supervisors Matthew Bramante do terrific work with the visual effects for the scenes in space though one sequence that involves Lucy moving through walls and into another location is one of the dumbest effects moments in the film. Sound designers Ai-Ling Lee and Tobias Poppe do superb work with the sound as it play into some of the natural locations though it does go overboard as it play into Lucy’s paranoia. The film’s music by Jeff Russo is good with its mixture of orchestral flourishes and ambient music while music supervisor Maggie Phillips provides a decent soundtrack that includes the B-52s, Riders in the Storm, Mel Tillis, and Norah Jones but it also features a horrendous cover of the Beatles’ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by Jeff Russo and vocalist Lisa Hannigan.

The casting by Ronna Kress is alright despite the fact that a lot of the actors don’t get much to do while being hampered by a terrible script and poor direction. Performances from Nick Offerman as the psychiatrist Dr. Will Plimpton, Tig Notaro as the astronaut Kate Mounier, Jeffrey Donovan as the astronaut trainer Jim Hunt, and Colman Domingo as the mission director Frank Paxton aren’t just severely underused but never really do anything to be involved with the narrative with the exception of Domingo’s character who plays a key role in the third act as it relates to Lucy’s mental state. Pearl Amanda Dickson is wonderful as Drew and Lucy’s niece Blue Iris as a young girl who is concerned about her aunt’s mental state as she reluctantly joins her for the road trip in the film’s third act. Zazie Beetz’s performance as Lucy’s rival Erin Eccles is severely underwritten as she’s just there to be this romantic/competitive rival with not much to do while Ellen Burstyn’s performance as Lucy’s grandmother Nana Holbrook has a few funny lines and such but never gets the chance to be used more as her one appearance in the film’s third act is just dumb.

Dan Stevens is alright in his performance as Lucy’s husband Drew as someone who is religious and kind-hearted yet becomes concerned about Lucy’s activities as he is hampered by the fact that he is underwritten and is just there to be a cuckold. Jon Hamm’s performance as the astronaut Mark Goodwin where it has its charm but is hampered by the film’s script as someone who is a manipulator and a womanizer as he ends up being one-dimensional. Finally, there’s Natalie Portman in a stellar though flawed performance as Lucy Cola as this astronaut whose experience in space has made her lose touch with reality as Portman does what she can to play into that disconnect but she is held back by the film’s awful script while her Texan accent is spotty at times and having to sport one of the worst haircuts ever on film.

Lucy in the Sky is a lousy and horrendous film from Noah Hawley. Despite Natalie Portman’s attempt to give a fiery performance, the film’s terrible script, messy presentation, and lack of humor as it relates to the real-life story the film is inspired by. It is a film that wants to be a lot of things yet its lack of cohesion and idiotic presentation makes it a total chore to watch. In the end, Lucy in the Sky is a fucking awful film from Noah Hawley.

© thevoid99 2021