The Astronaut's Wife
| The Astronaut's Wife | |
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 The Astronaut's Wife film poster |
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| Directed by | Rand Ravich |
| Produced by | Andrew Lazar |
| Written by | Rand Ravich |
| Starring | Johnny Depp Charlize Theron |
| Music by | George S. Clinton |
| Cinematography | Allen Daviau |
| Editing by | Tim Alverson Steve Mirkovich |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | August 27, 1999 |
| Running time | 109 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $75,000,000 [1] |
| Box office | $19,598,588 |
The Astronaut's Wife is a 1999 science fiction/thriller film directed and written by Rand Ravich. It stars Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron.
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[edit] Plot
Spencer Armacost (Depp) is a NASA astronaut. While on a space-walking mission with fellow astronaut Alex Streck, an explosion results in a communication loss for two minutes between the astronauts and Earth. After returning to their respective spouses, the two astronauts never speak about their ordeal and Streck grows increasingly hostile towards Armacost, constantly saying that he is not his friend. Not long after their return, Streck bleeds to death during a conference. His death is ruled as a rare hemorrhagic stroke by NASA. While still in mourning for her lost husband, Streck's wife commits suicide by sitting in a running shower with an AC powered radio.
Spencer retires from NASA and takes an executive position in New York City. His wife Jillian (Theron) becomes pregnant with twins. She begins to notice changes in Spencer's personality and becomes suspicious. She questions him about what happened during the time they lost contact.
Sherman Reese (Joe Morton), a former NASA employee who had been fired after the astronauts' return, contacts Jillian. He tells her that Spencer is not her husband. Originally, Jillian doesn't believe Reese, but she starts to recognize similarities between his accounts and her husband's behavior. Reese makes arrangements to meet Jillian again so that he can show her more proof, but before that happens, it is implied that Spencer kills Reese. Spencer takes possession of a satchel belonging to Reese which contains the information that can explain what's going on. Jillian does, however, receive the information that Reese intended to pass her in the form of a video tape.
Despite the film's earlier ambiguities, Spencer turns out to have been possessed by an extraterrestrial being while fellow astronaut Streck witnessed the event. In order to keep the secret, Spencer kills also Jillian's sister Nan, who confronts him when she sees Spencer in possession of Reese's satchel. Jillian, suspicious of her husband's actions, sets up a confrontation where she attempts to electrocute him and herself. The resulting conversation during the confrontation confirms to her that Spencer is possessed. At the end of the confrontation, Spencer is electrocuted and his true alien form, a tentacled energy being, is revealed briefly before "transmitting" itself into Jillian through her eyes and stopping her from being electrocuted.
Years later, Jillian has re-married and sends her twin sons off on their first day of school. It is implied that she is now possessed and that the children, who are also alien, were conceived after Spencer had become possessed. Her new husband is a fighter pilot, a career which Jillian intends for her sons as well.
[edit] Cast
- Johnny Depp as Commander Spencer Armacost
- Charlize Theron as Jillian Armacost
- Joe Morton as Sherman Reese, NASA Representative
- Clea DuVall as Nan
- Donna Murphy as Natalie Streck
- Nick Cassavetes as Capt. Alex Streck
- Samantha Eggar as Dr. Patraba
- Gary Grubbs as NASA Director
- Blair Brown as Shelly McLaren
- Tom Noonan as Jackson McLaren
- Tom O'Brien as Allen Dodge
- Lucy Lin as Shelly Carter
- Michael Crider as Pat Elliott
- Cole and Dylan Sprouse as Jillian's twin sons
- Edward Kerr as Pilot
[edit] Box office
The movie performed badly at the box office. In its opening weekend the movie grossed $4,027,003 and domestically the movie grossed $10,672,566. The film made $8,926,022 in foreign markets bringing its total box office gross to $19,598,588.[1]
[edit] Reception
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This section requires expansion. |
Rotten Tomatoes, the review aggregator, gave the film 16% freshness.[2]
[edit] Awards
The Astronaut's Wife was nominated for Best Film at the Catalonian International Film Festival in Sitges in 1999.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Box Office Mojo". http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=astronautswife.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
- ^ The Astronaut's Wife at Rotten Tomatoes
