Ivan Radford | On 20, Jul 2024

Director: Liz W Garcia
Cast: Emma Roberts, Tom Hopper, Desi Lydic, Yasha Jackson, Andrew Call, Gabrielle Union, Poppy Liu, Kuhoo Verma
Certificate: TBC

In 1969, NASA landed on the moon. What, like it’s hard? In the 55th anniversary year of the Apollo 11 mission, Amazon Prime Video’s new comedy pays homage by giving space the Legally Blonde treatment. The result is uplifting but disappointingly undercooked.

Emma Roberts stars as Rex, a Florida bartender who has always dreamed of being an astronaut and was accepted into Georgia Tech after school – but, after her mum got sick, decided to delay college for a year and ended up just living with her dad working in a bar instead. When she bumps into an old crush from school who has basically grown up to become Elon Musk, she decides to pursue her dream once more. Writing an application form to NASA that leans heavily into dreams and wishes, she finds herself unexpectedly accepted into training – only to realise that her best friend, Nadine (Poppy Liu), rewrote her CV and filled it with lies.

What ensues is a familiar tale of an underdog proving that they have worth. Rex is swiftly surrounded by an ensemble of seasoned and qualified fellow candidates. This group of broad stereotypes include the nervous fan-fiction author, Violet (Kuhoo Verma), the ruthless self-centred mum, Dr Stacy Kellogg (Desi Lydic), someone with actual, direct experience (Yasha Jackson), and a patriotic military veteran (Andrew Call). They’re overseen by the professional but playful Pam (Gabrielle Union) and the overly serious Logan (Tom Hopper).

Will Rex succeed against all the odds? Will the mean villain get their comeuppance? And will Logan turn out to be a romantic match? The script, by director Liz W Garcia, is sadly too predictable to sell its unlikely scenario – and frustratingly doesn’t given its cast enough to ground the story’s out-of-this-world logic.

The actors themselves elevate the material as best they can. It’s a treat to see the always-excellent Tom Hopper get the chance to play a love interest – he’s charming as the increasingly flustered scientist with a British accent and glasses. Kuhoo Verma has a knack for physical comedy to match her character’s anxious energy. And Emma Roberts is genuinely likeable in a role that really lets her natural charisma shine.

But even Roberts is sold short by a screenplay that appears to support not judging people by their cover, but doesn’t actually give its hero skillsets that drive her to success other than vague positive vibes. That means there’s little to actually root for as the plot escalates, which means the amusing vignettes that do stick the landing are quickly forgotten. Asking us to believe that NASA wouldn’t even check for references before someone starts training to be an astronaut is one thing, but not having the smarts to back up its own knowingly silly premise ends up undermining, rather than celebrating, science and the space programme. Going back to the drawing board to get the right fuel for a talented cast could have resulted in a rocketing romp that excused the occasionally unconvincing green screen. As it is, this underwhelming comedy is like watching an antidote to The Martian.

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