“The Space Between Us” Requires Disbelief
By Skip Sheffield
“The Space Between Us” calls for a lot of suspension of
disbelief to buy into its far-out premise. It is set in some unspecified time
in the future. A space shuttle takes off with a mission to colonize the planet
Mars. One of the astronauts is a woman who discovers she is pregnant. Don’t
they check for such things pre-takeoff? The unfortunate woman dies in
childbirth, but her son survives to be the first human born on Mars. We flash
forward 16 years and Gardner Elliot (British actor Asa Butterfield) has struck
up an internet friendship with a feisty girl named Tulsa (another Brit, Britt
Robertson) in Colorado. How this is possible, don’t ask. It is necessary to set
up the romantic plot of boy from outer space in love with Earth girl. Both
Butterfield and Robertson have unconventional beauty. Tall Butterfield has magnetic
blue eyes. Tiny Robertson has tough girl charm. How else could she kick over a 1960s
vintage Triumph motorcycle with ease?
Supporting players are Carla Gugino, Gary Oldman and BD Wong
as NASA handlers of Gardner Elliot. It seems the Earth’s gravitational pull is
too much for Gardner’s heart to withstand. So the NASA people chase him around
while he is with Triumph girl, who by the way has an amazing talent for
stealing vehicles.
So hey, the scenery is pretty and so are the principals.
Rocket science this is not. Escapist entertainment it is.
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