Spaceman: Review and wine pairing

Adam Sandler stars as lonely cosmonaut and Paul Dano voices a spider alien in Netflix's new drama

Johan Renck’s latest feature is about a giant talking spider and a cosmonaut engaging in weighty small talk of love, loneliness and chocolate-hazelnut spreads.

Czech space traveller Jakub (Adam Sandler) is on the outskirts of Jupier, over six months into a mission to gather space dust from a mysterious nebulous cloud called the Chopra. Depressed and heartbroken from the breakdown of his relationship with his pregnant wife Lenka (the always reliable Carey Mulligan), Jakub is surprised to discover a rather large arachnid (voiced by Paul Dano) aboard his ship who has travelled across the deep depths of the universe to discover more about the human condition. Jakub decides to name him Hanuš, after the astronomical clockmaker.

This slow-paced absurdist story is usually the sort I adore; with elements of Interstellar and Waiting for Godot, the film has the potential to explore human purpose, relationships and guilt without the constraints of context or the Aristotelian principle of an action-driven plot. 

But alas, it falls short of this promise. Lenka is so thinly written with so few, if any, reasons given as to why she stayed with Jakub as long as she has, let alone get pregnant with him. If this is supposed to be a love story, in the words of the Black Eyed Peas, where is the love? Meanwhile the dream-like sequences of Lenka on Earth are oddly placed and are somewhat more ethereal than the celestial purple swirls of the Chopra cloud – lovely to look at, but it defeats the contrast of Lenka and Jukub’s lives and perspectives that the film supposedly tries to hone in on.

Why Lenka chooses to stay with Jakub for so long is a mystery

There’s also a notable lack of comedy (Sandler and Mulligan have both flexed their comic muscles so it’s a shame they weren’t exercised here), which is only given in drabs to Dano’s spider, largely through his penchant for chocolate spread than through any clever comic conceit. Odd, for without any comedy it’s simply a dreary story of a self-absorbed career man who is in the depths of depression, hallucinating a talking spider and failing to uncover any real moral realisations other than he’s being an arsehole. 

Even the political context is watered down; surprising, given Renck previously directed the Chernobyl TV series. Jakub’s father was part of the communist secret police, undertaking unspeakable atrocities for which his family were later punished. This is seemingly the basis on which Jakub justifies his voyage: to become a national hero and redeem the family name.

The book upon which the film is based, Jaroslav Kalfař’s Spaceman of Bohemia, makes the tensions more clear, with Jakub remembering his grandfather’s words:

 “You know that the world is always trying to take us. This country, that country. We can’t fight the whole world, the ten million of us, so we pick the people we think should be punished, and we make them suffer the best we can.”

Where is this memory in the film? Jakub’s suffering on behalf of his father, the dichotomy between his family’s communist past and his pharma-sponsored mission to defeat Russia (not-so-subtly changed to South Korea in the film) in the fictional but symbolic space race are strong cards that aren’t played here. This is much to its detriment as, while Sandler and the spider's musings are generally entertaining, the film thereby lacks any focus and, by default, any meaning.

One thing that isn't a shame is the wine. I always reach for a tannic bordeaux when I come across anything remotely profound or philosophical – cigar and cardigan optional, but recommended. Cabernet moravia is a native Czech variety, a cross between cabernet franc, originating from Bordeaux, and zweigelt, a popular Austrian red grape (see M&S Found’s version for a great introduction).

The cabernet franc provides the dark fruit and green bell pepper flavours reminiscent of those infamous velvety wines. There is also a pleasant hint of black olives.

By contrast, zweigelt is bright and fruity – think red cherries, pink peppercorns, herbs and raspberries. Together, this is a balanced red that is evocative of the best bordeaux, but with its Czech trademark of fresh fruit and vibrant acidity. The 18 months in oak barrels also adds depth and a hint of chocolate to keep Hanuš happy.

Spaceman is available to watch on Netflix; Bystřický Cabernet Moravia 2018 is £24.34 from morenaturalwine.co.uk