Film: Space Station 76
Starring: Patrick Wilson, Matt Bomer
Directed by: Jack Plotnick

Picture the old episodes of Star Trek where the Starship Enterprise members carried around communicators that looked like flip phones and had bulky flashy lights on them. That kind of fake-ness that made you laugh at how dated future technology looked is the best part about Space Station 76. Jack Plotnick (actor from Quentin Dupieux’s absurdist films Rubber and Wrong) makes his feature directorial debut in a film that is equal parts Boogie Nights and Spaceballs but without the dramatic gravity from the former and constant gut-busting laughs from the latter. Space Station 76, which debuted at this past year’s SXSW, isn’t so much a missed opportunity as it is a movie that has unique elements that don’t quite meld with one another.

Space Station 76 begins on the Omega 76 space station as Jessica (The Lord of the Rings’ Liv Tyler), the new assistant captain, arrives on the vessel led by Captain Glenn Terry (Watchmen’s Patrick Wilson). Among the station’s other members are Ted and Misty (White Collar’s Matt Bomer and Boston Legal’s Marisa Coughlan), the couple wishing they could fall back in love, and Steve & Donna (Jerry O’ Connell and Kali Rocha), another couple who have lost the groove in their relationship. Tensions rise among the station’s inhabitants as they self-medicate, cheat on each other, and oust others’ secrets.

The best part about Space Station 76 is in the opening. You are introduced to this little home away from home in space. This is a place where people are going crazy from literally floating through their tired existences. In this retro designed space station, one that you could imagine would show up in an old Nintendo game, people seemingly adhere to the rules of a 70s’ era soft-core adult film mixed with a swingers drama like The Ice Storm. Yes, that means there is constant smoking, people getting revenge through sex, drinking to suppress feelings, and even a slight hint of misogyny (which is played to hilarious effect). Unfortunately, Space Station 76 draws from those films without having the same dramatic effect.

Patrick Wilson as the chauvinistic, pack-a-day smoking, and emotionally closed off captain steals the show. Imagine a tamer version of Ron Burgundy in space and you have Captain Glenn Terry. His exchanges with the myriad of station members and multiple attempts to commit suicide (which the onboard computer won’t let him do) is played off really well but is shifted off in favor of giving the character a deeper emotional background towards the end. This isn’t a bad thing but it’s jarring to go from comedy to drama in one fell swoop at the film’s climactic set piece.

The humor of the film often falls flat but when it sticks the landing, you laugh heartily. Matt Bomer’s mechanic character has a Nintendo PowerGlove for a hand that malfunctions at the worst times, which provides some laughs. There’s one scene in particular where the captain is stuck with Ted and Misty’s daughter, Sunshine (Kylie Rogers), and he has no idea how to take care of a child. The pure awkwardness he has with being in charge of anything is the main driving point behind the best jokes in the film.

Every single character’s plight in Space Station 76 is akin to others you have seen in other movies. The film tries to keep this comedic tone as the people on the station cheat on each other and wish for better lives but the narrative isn’t written to support both at the same time. In the climactic scene, a sequence where everything comes to a proverbial head, all secrets are let loose as the characters throw verbal jabs at each other trying to make themselves feel like the right ones in the situation. Like the storm troopers in Star Wars though, they miss their desired target. After breathing in this stylized environment complete with view masters, bulky food dispensers, and multi-colored keyboard consoles with many buttons that aren’t understood by anyone, you dream of another story taking place in this minimalistic space universe. One that is funnier and is complemented by only slight dashes of human drama, akin to Galaxy Quest.

Review written by Sam Cohen (Follow him on Twitter)

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Sam Cohen

Sam Cohen is that guy you can't have a conversation with without bringing up Michael Mann. He is also incapable of separating himself from his teenage angst (looking at you, Yellowcard). Read on as he tries to formulate words about movies!

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