Astronauts Commander Spencer Armacost and Captain Alex Streck are on a mission to place a satellite in orbit.  There is an explosion.  News of the disaster hits the T.V. airwaves almost right away and Spencer's wife Jillian goes into a panic but is soon put to ease by a NASA representative who takes her back to HQ.  There she and Alex's wife Natalie are told that both of their husbands are alive.  The two men were out of contact from anybody for two minutes after the explosion.  Short weeks after their return and release from the hospital Alex has a stroke and dies and Natalie after spouting some strange stuff to Jillian commits suicide.  Not everything is the same as before the accident and Jillian is thrown into a nightmare world where the man she loves can no longer be trusted.  He's hiding something and its more than just the trauma of his minutes alone in space.

The Astronaut's Wife is nearly a modern retelling of Rosemary's Baby and is definitely an homage from the director.  Instead of Devil worshippers it's an alien conspiracy.  The results should have been nearly the same as the pregnant wife has to deal with a husband who only she seems to be able to tell is acting oddly.  She should struggle with the question of whether it is true or just her imagination.  The Astronaut's Wife however is not a comparable film.  Although she has an identical haircut to Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby and looks the part, Charlize Theron's acting is atrocious.  Her portrayal of Jillian Armacost is tainted from the very start by her having the read the script.  She acts as if she knows what is going on even as she spouts lines to the contrary and the story pieces itself together for Jillian.

On the other hand we have a passable job by Johnny Depp as Spencer Armacost who from all appearances did everything that the director asked.  Depp dropped into the role complete with thick accent with the same skill as usual.  Spencer though is as wooden as a dime store Indian after his brush with death in space.  He's everything one would expect from a man in the same position.  Still he could not carry the film alone.  The script is weak in parts with no real shining moments.  The pace is kind of slow and a little stilted.  Too many things seem to be too readily apparent.  The tension is lacking, and the suspense hamstrung by the script.  Despite it all the direction on the visuals is good, the sets and locations are better than average, and the musical score is present but not overdone.  Overall a passable film if one is not expecting much.  It might be an acceptable T.V. night if absolutely nothing else is on.

( Thank you for reading my review.
Bob Male)

All ideas, opinions, and information are from the reviewer and are not representative of any company or group involved with the creators and/or staff of the materials being reviewed.