The Astronaut's Wife

R

Released Aug 27, 1999

1 hr. 49 min.

Sci-Fi

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

List

15%

60 Reviews

Tomatometer

33%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

When astronaut Spencer Armacost (Johnny Depp) returns to Earth after a mission that nearly cost him his life, he decides to take a desk job in order to see his beautiful wife, Jillian (Charlize Theron), more often. Gradually, Jillian notices that Spencer's personality seems to have changed, but her concerns fade when she discovers that she's pregnant. As Jillian grows closer to becoming a mother, her suspicions about Spencer return. Why does it seem as if he's a different person?

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Critics Consensus

Despite the best efforts of its talented leads, The Astronaut's Wife moves at a snail's pace and fails to generate enough intrigue to keep viewers engaged.

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Sean M

This movie was sooo bad. A stinker for sure.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

04/10/23

Full Review

Butch B

great actors on a poor script. Started slow and stayed that way. A log of terrible dialogue. Ended up watching about half of the movie and then jumping to the end. Glad I didn't pay to go see this movie.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/09/23

Full Review

Cat F

Brilliant chemistry by depp and Theron. Suspenseful film

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/18/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Despite the strong performances from Depp and Theron, this movie wields a pretty predictable plot. Like the sort of thing you can guess immediately, say ten minutes or so into the movie. Aswell as that, the dialogue is at points on the forced/cringy side and certain aspects of the story just don't make logical sense (or you make your own logic to make it make sense... either way it's bad) But with the decent acting (mostly) and the few scenes of shock or build up that actually work I deem this film 'watchable'... It'll probably just be easier if you've had one of those days at work where you're brain has turned to complete mush.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

adam b

I enjoyed the premise for the most part (a 4th dimensional being(?) taking over the body of an astronaut and then using the wife as a way to reproduce) but this film explored really nothing about the whole "the twins will be pilots" even though they are mentioned a ton and is basically the entire agenda for the alien. I mean, pilots for what exactly? Why did you need kids as pilots? And the film didn't explore the alien aspect very much, mostly just examines the wife losing her mind figuring out her "husband" isn't actually her husband anymore. Plus, some of this dialogue is so bad and some characters are literally so annoying. Other than that, I was entertained and enjoyed Depp's and Theron's performance a bunch

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

felipe d

It was a really, really, really slow movie. I got myself sleeping sometimes.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Rand Ravich

Director

Johnny Depp

Commander Spencer Armacost

Charlize Theron

Jillian Armacost

Joe Morton

Sherman Reese

Clea Duvall

Nan

Donna Murphy

Natalie Streck

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: C+

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Globe and Mail

Rated: 2.5/4

Mar 22, 2002

Full Review

Janet Maslin

New York Times

The Astronaut's Wife is ridiculously derivative.

Rated: 2.5/5

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Chuck Klosterman

Akron Beacon Journal

A strikingly unremarkable picture that starts with an unoriginal idea and ends with a cheap conclusion designed to prompt a sequel (although it's unlikely this movie will be successful enough to warrant one).

Rated: 2/4

Oct 26, 2023

Full Review

Mary K Feeney

Hartford Courant

"The Astronaut's Wife,'' heavy on melodrama and skimpy on substance, is light years too long to engage audiences. And Depp, a talented actor with some great films to his credit, seems lost in space in this unfortunate vehicle.

Jan 2, 2018

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

A high-toned grind.

Rated: F

Jul 23, 2007

Full Review

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Synopsis

When astronaut Spencer Armacost (Johnny Depp) returns to Earth after a mission that nearly cost him his life, he decides to take a desk job in order to see his beautiful wife, Jillian (Charlize Theron), more often. Gradually, Jillian notices that Spencer's personality seems to have changed, but her concerns fade when she discovers that she's pregnant. As Jillian grows closer to becoming a mother, her suspicions about Spencer return. Why does it seem as if he's a different person?

Director: Rand Ravich
Executive Producer: Mark Johnson, Donna Langley, Brian Witten
Screenwriter: Rand Ravich
Distributor: New Line Home Video [us], New Line Cinema
Production Co: New Line Cinema, Mad Chance
Rating: R
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 27, 1999, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $10.7M
Sound Mix: Surround

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