This summer we’ve celebrated the 45th anniversary of “Alien” and the 15th anniversary of “Moon,” two of the greatest stuck-in-space films ever made. We’ve also been watching a related plot play out in reality, as Boeing’s ill-fated Starliner has left astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore idling at the International Space Station.
So perhaps at another time, Mikael Håfström’s “Slingshot” would get a pass for effort, if nothing else.
This is, admittedly, a challenging genre. But given its provocative potential (and Håfström’s repeated references to Stanley Kubrick’s all-time interstellar icon, “2001: A Space Odyssey”), a halfhearted take feels particularly disappointing.
The film’s listless energy begins with John (Casey Affleck), an astronaut years into his mission to Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. For someone trapped in a metal capsule, John initially appears to be doing ok. But when his ground commander (David Morrissey) checks in “to stress the importance of your psych evaluation,” we’ve got a pretty clear idea where things are headed.
There are only two other people aboard the Odyssey: John’s colleague Nash (Tomer Capone) and their captain, Franks (Laurence Fishburne). So it’s a little odd that John and Nash are continually required to cycle in and out of a drug-induced hypersleep. Stranger still, they wake up each time feeling increasingly confused and paranoid. Although … is it paranoia if you might be right?
For starters, when the capsule is damaged and a panicked Nash notes the dangers in continuing their mission, Franks shuts him down with suspicious speed. As Nash pushes for an insurrection and Franks prepares to fight back, a disoriented John is stuck in the middle, unsure of who he should trust.
It’s no wonder, then, that each time he goes back to “sleep,” he returns to the comfort of pre-launch memories. Mostly, he thinks about his girlfriend Zoe (Emily Beecham), who also works for the space program. He warned her early on that he didn’t have time for a relationship, as he was hoping to be chosen for this mission. But when they fell in love, he surprised himself by the depth of their connection. We, unfortunately, are less convinced. These flashbacks are both underdeveloped and overlong, which only emphasizes how little chemistry there is between Affleck and Beecham. She seems uncomfortable, and he just seems bored.
Affleck’s disaffection carries through almost every scene — until the very end. For this is, as it turns out, one of those movies that relies so heavily on its final twist that the rest of the story becomes an afterthought. Affleck, Håfström (“1408”), and screenwriters R. Scott Adams (“Donner Pass”) and Nathan Parker (who co-wrote the infinitely superior “Moon”) seem so sure our minds will eventually be blown, they’re simply connecting dots until they can scribble madly across the page. Not everyone got the memo, though, so the actors often appear to be in different movies.
Affleck’s scenes tend to be long and quiet, but he’s so unemotive they mostly feel inert. A jumpy Capone (“Fauda”) and intense Fishburne work overtime to add energy, but they’re stuck in a thriller with few thrills, while Affleck and Beecham seem to be in a drama with little drama.
Similarly, Steffen Thum’s portentous score tries to build some menace, but ultimately has nowhere to go. Until, of course, that final scene, towards which we’ve been hurtling since the start. The good news is that the ending really is as strong as the filmmakers believe. And since Håfström and his crew stick their landing, those who particularly enjoy second-hand claustrophobia may find it worth the long journey. Everyone else, however, will be better served by more engaging enterprises here on Earth.
