inkvoices | The Space Between Us

I was looking after my sister this weekend, so the first cinema trip I've gone on this year ended up being The Space Between Us, as it looked suitable for the sister and interesting enough for me. The overall verdict is that we both enjoyed it.

The Space Between Us starts with the first trip up to establish a colony on Mars, in a joint effort by Genesis Space Technologies and NASA, when it turns out a female astronaut is accidentally pregnant and dies giving birth on arrival. The problem is that the baby won't be able to survive the journey back to Earth, or Earth's gravity (true - they researched their shit), and they're worried that if they let people know about this and it's a PR disater it could cause problems for the programme, meaning no funding, meaning everyone comes home and the baby doesn't survive. So they keep it a secret.

Sixteen years later Gardener Elliot wants to come to Earth, to try and find his dad and to meet a girl called Tulsa from Colorado who he's been secretly in contact with online. She thinks he can't leave his house because he has a brittle bone condition. She's a street wise kid, lovess music, has been in foster care since she was four and is looking forward to getting the hell out of dodge when she turns eighteen soon.

A few adults support Gardener, saying he should get to go to Earth and he's old enough that they can do something about his health, so that happens. What follows could be corny and cringe-worthy, but the acting keeps it sweet. There's a lot of things that could have been explored and in greater detail, and the female characters orbit the main character Gardener without us ever getting to know more about the tantalising details dropped in about their lives, but overall I enjoyed it. It's had some far from great reviews online, but it's a nice little PG story about how wonderful Earth can be, and how interesting space travel can be, and people, with some nice comedy moments and first romance moments. It made me and my sister smile.

Then again, you all know I have a thing for space and found family, right? *grins* Um, and now I have notes on a fic that would be coda for this film set over a decade later... Oops.