Noah Hawley is a brilliant writer and filmmaker. Legion of one of the best television shows of all time. I was a little surprised by the restraint in Lucy. I was expecting a more surreal head-trip that was potentially too challenging for modern audiences. Instead, it was a bit too straight forward. Amazing performance by Natalie Portman. The last 30 minutes were vintage Hawley. Wanted to fall in love with the movie, but it just didn't get me there.

I thought it was ok overall as the space flight & scenes were good, but then it seems to paint the narrative that Astronauts returning from space have a hard time with reality which drives them looney. Good cast and movie had potential, but just seemed to get stuck on the same cycle.

After watching several movies over the past New Year's holidays, one of the few that deserves some commentary is, in my humble opinion, this debut (when it comes to the big screen) by director Noah Howley. It is a pure psychological drama, inspired by a true event (sic!), that culminated with the arrest of US astronaut Lisa Nowak in 2007, named Lucy Cola in the movie (by the way, the original name of the movie was "Pale Blue Dot" until it was changed because of the smartly used association with the 1967 hit song of The Beatles). I do not know why it is labeled as science fiction, unless the epithet refers to the thesis of astronaut's dependence on space travel, which has no basis, at least when it referres to a normal, ie. balanced persons. The film has an excellent interpretation of the main protagonist, Natalie Portman, with the other characters being more or less deliberately neglected. As far as acting is concerned, e.g. Tig Notaro was given a supporting role proportional with her acting talent (just a little bit more than a statist), while Zazie Beets was disproportionately represented in that sense, probably because she is so-called "rising actress" (in the same period she made an interestingly imagined character in the movie "The Joker", which, despite all its flaws, has praiseworthy moments). Stylishly remarkable, no matter what critics think, with a wide frames when picturing levitation in Earth orbit, and shrink frames when it comes to everyday's life and separation from reality by crashing into neurosis. The fascination with insects is also interesting, pictured more than once. The most endearing detail in the movie, though, is when, at the peak of her neurosis, Lucy accuses her supervisor of being treated differently if she was male ... and in the next moment keep silenced, aware that she was overdoing it, despite all her paranoia. So much for the false ultra-feminism of the 21st century. Explained. Critics who are bothered by the style above the content, I would remind of the recent creation "Ad Astra" in which there is neither one nor the other. A meaningless plot that defies all scientific knowledge (rightly stated that behind every recent Hollywood sci-fi product there is at least one scientist or expert in a given area who might be, but have not been consulted), taken for the sole reason of being a decor where the lead actor, in this particular case of Brad Pitt, would have something to do. Although, given that in one of Tarantino's latest "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" beat all the limits of (sur)realism, what is one movie more or less, in this general collective neurosis? And does anyone, after all this, still say Lucy is paranoid...?

This is a film that I quite liked - it nearly works very well but doesn't entirely. I thought the characters were decent and the themes interesting, though there is a fair amount of cheese and perhaps even cliche present, especially/mainly in the first hour or so. At times I felt sorry for the main character but not at other times. I liked her teenage daughter character. I reckon if you like family dramas and have an interest in astronomy/astronauts or perhaps lesser so philosophy and faith in a much wider context, then you may enjoy this - that may be slightly stretching it but I reckon it's worth giving it a chance. It's a somewhat insightful and thoughtful watch but it does, it has to be said, have a feel of a channel 5 afternoon film about it, so don't be expecting a massive use of CGI and entirely slick scripts. If this sounds really intriguing, it may be worth a watch but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it as such, no.

I thought this was going to be a movie about how astrophysics changes your perspective. Turned out to be an episode of The Bachelor.

Aggravatingly boring "student film". Mainstream comedians cast in serious roles. Trying to be artsy with constantly shifting aspect ratio which doesn't achieve it's pompous intention of reflecting Natalie Portman's emotions. Nothing wrong with any of the performances. It's the plot that is pedantic. After you watch the 20 minutes, the rest of the movie is pointless. We get it. She has her mind blown by the awesomeness of space compared to wasting evenings at a bowling alley in Nebraska or wherever the movie takes place. So now what? We don't care.

I'm not a huge fan of Natalie Portman. She once again plays an unstable type-A (ala "Black Swan") (she plays this type well). The movie was moderately entertaining.

I'm seriously perplexed at why this film doesn't have better reviews? This is one of, if not the best, Natalie Portman performance I've ever seen. Not as dark or deep as Joaquin Phoenix in Joker but I still got that vibe of someone who's slowly losing touch with reality. She's strong, smart, and fierce at times. Wonderful editing with a lot of overhead shots and camera zooms to heighten Portman's isolation. And on a final note: after seeing him in this and RICHARD JEWELL recently, I'm convinced Jon Hamm doesn't have to stretch his acting chops very much to pull off playing an a--hole. I have nothing against the man and his work is spotty for me at times, but recently, he just comes across as that a--hole (so kudos to him). Looking forward to another viewing and I hope Natalie not only gets an Oscar nomination but wins the damn thing! I would definitely have to update my Top Ten list of 2019 and include this film in there.

Not too bad. Visually pleasing.

This is underrated - while it is a bit confusing, in fact there is a good film in here, with an interesting metaphor around obsessive ambition and losing control - and recovery from that by coming 'back down to earth'

I liked liked this movie. Natalie Portman is incredible. She creates a powerfully sympathetic character. It is hard to watch Lucy fall apart, and we do slowly see this happen. You really do feel how life starts to challenge her.

The film IS jumbled and confused in a number of ways and relies on a couple of hackneyed character and plot devices but the mind blowing awe and wondrous, breathless marvels of being aloft in space above the blue marble of Earth that dominates the opening sequences followed by the disorienting (as it must be) return to terrafirma (and its attendant sense of smallness after being out in the universe in the depths of one's aloneness and wholeness or connected-to-the-all-ness) is worth the price of admission. No other film involving astronauts and space that I have seen has ever quite captured that the way this does. Hence the third star.

I will be the contrarian here and say that I liked this movie. Since this is about NASA, I will get "scientific" here: PROS Natalie Portman, Natalie Portman, and Natalie Portman CONS The "character arc" is flawed. We, the audience, are never briefed on why she suddenly becomes crazy. Sure, she enjoyed being in space as a transcendental experience and wants to go back. Who wouldn't? But we don't know how to feel about her. Is she cracking up from stress, childhood problems, boredom, or something else. Why should we care about her? Should we feel sympathetic? If I could play amateur screenwriter, I would do flashbacks about her childhood showing how her strict parents raised her to be an overachiever. I would show a scene where she was punished for getting the SECOND highest grade in an important test. I would show her as a child playing with astronaut dolls and escaping her dark reality by pretending she is floating in space, free of her parents' NOW, we would feel sympathetic to her and understand why she acts like she does. We could understand why she treats her daughter like she was treated - harshly and uncompromisingly, where second best ain't good enough. Hollywood... I'm available! lol

This will end up being a cult classic. Natalie portman is badass and plays a great role of a strong woman stuck in societal circumstances. Not confusing, existential and metaphorical journey of feeling disconnected and finding what it is to truly belong.

Apollo 13. First Man. Hidden Figures. And now, Lucy in the Sky. What do all these movies have in common??? They're all fact based dramas involving NASA and they are all too boring to watch again. I've barely seen any of Apollo 13 because it makes me want to go to sleep or ram my head into a wall within the first ten minutes. I just don't care about Hollywood's serious take on NASA stories for subconscious reasons that are probably easy to deduce if thought about. Plain and simple, Lucy in the Sky is a boring story about someone who was probably a pretty boring person. Some of the most interesting names in Hollywood were involved in this movie but even they couldn't make it interesting. It's no more interesting a story than almost anyone else has. Best thing about this story and movie - it shows that even astronauts make fairly big mistakes in life, but that doesn't earn it any points in my book because it mostly just encourages people to make mistakes. 2 of 5

My first thought was, "Why is Natalie Portman doing Julia Roberts (an actress I feel is highly overrated)?" Her voice and even her gummy laugh were styled after JR. She did try but the script was senseless. I was born and raised in Houston, and there is no way people who live in Nassau Bay would drive to Sugar Land to bowl! It is hours away. Also, who designed her clothes? People don't dress like that in Texas! The movie should have ended with her standing on the ledge of the parking garage. The whole bee raising thing was just padding.

Lucy in the Sky missed so many marks it's hard to know where to begin. A film that could have been worthy instead becomes one that is a complete mess. I was excited to view the directorial debut of Noah Hawley as his work on Fargo was exemplary. But this film is messy and loses its way quite badly. It starts well. Lucy Cola is a high grade astronaut just returned from her first mission in space. She has a loving husband but she really struggles back on earth. Everything feels too mundane. She feels lifeless without being in space. This makes for an interesting story, but it descends into chaos as she goes off the rails. She has an affair with a fellow astronaut and her behaviour becomes erratic to say the least. The film looks great and the director uses various aspects ratios, changing through out. And Natalie Portman is fine in the lead role but it all feels like a wasted opportunity.

Will I ever get those two hours back???

Look Portman can act circles around nearly anyone on earth. That said her character was so unlikable the film was hard to watch even if she is giving a great performance.

There's a nice thematic exploration with a symbolic metaphor supporting it, as part of the hefty surrealism where logically reasoning not being received due to similar psychosis downfall that Natalie Portman also experienced very well, but is let down much further by how tediously uneventful it turned out to be on a very simple route. (C+)