The ads make it hard to tell what sort of movie “Passengers” is, so I’ll clue you in: It’s a comedy, then a painful drama, then a romance, then a sci-fi adventure, then something of a mess.
Given Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, two of the most appealing-in-every-way movie stars we have, you’d think it would be easy to find them a great vehicle, but “Passengers” feels as if the filmmakers couldn’t decide what to do with them.
So they decided to do everything with them.
The best scenes are the opening ones. Pratt wakes up in a space station full of hibernating people. He was on his way to live on another planet but he awakened 90 years too early and he’s alone. There’s a little Tom-Cruise-in-“Risky-Business” celebrating, followed by the realization that he is doomed to a lonely existence, all of which Pratt handles with charisma and humor.
Pretty soon, he’s joined by Lawrence, who also wakes up too early, and the two have to figure out how to survive in space, how to get along with each other and why, even in the future, women must wear transparent, skimpy clothing while men are in roomy separates.
Some intriguing moral dilemmas crop up in “Passengers,” which ponders whether it’s worth living if you’re alone or if you’re with someone you can’t stand. Also, I think there’s something in there about the limits of technology and, since this is Hollywood we’re talking about, the triumph of the human spirit.
But, honestly, as the movie fumbles over logic (for instance, there’s literally no one on board who knows how to pilot this ship?) while attempting to get its stars into kissing position, it becomes difficult to parse its messages.
Lawrence and Pratt, who are practically the only humans on-screen (Michael Sheen shows up as an android and there are glimpses of others), earn their paychecks. There’s an extra degree of difficulty for Lawrence — whose character is a writer and not a very good one, apparently, since all of the excerpts of her work that we hear are terrible. Both actors have a forthright quality and an easy wit, which means their characters feel like a good match, and not just because they’re insanely attractive.
There is, however, only so much they can do with this material, which asks us to embrace “The Martian”-like suspensions of disbelief but never gives us a clear idea of what’s at stake. I mean, as unlikely as what Sandra Bullock accomplished in “Gravity” was, at least we always understood what she was trying to do. Here, in a similar, race-against-time-and-credibility climax, the vague spatial relationships and darkness make it unclear what we’re watching.
The movie itself is fairly watchable. It’s certainly not dull, and snatches of “Passengers” are quite entertaining. But, as you’re taking it all in, it’s hard not to think about all of the other movies you’d rather see these stars acting in.
“PASSENGERS”
- Directed by: Morten Tyldum
- Starring: Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence
- Rated: PG-13
- Should you go? If you’re a fan of the actors — and who isn’t? — it might be worth a matinee. 2 stars
