Jillian (Charlize Theron) is a teacher and her husband Spencer Armacost (Johnny Depp) is an astronaut. Something goes wrong in his mission. He wakes up from his coma as a changed man. His fellow crewman Alex Streck has a disturbing episode and dies. Alex's wife commits suicide. Spencer leaves NASA for the private sector. Jillian feels lost and then she gets pregnant with twins. NASA Representative Sherman Reese (Joe Morton) comes to her with dire warnings.It's a really slow really long countdown. The drama has no bite. The movie has no tension. It turns into Rosemary's Baby midway through but this is nowhere near the classic horror. Johnny Depp doesn't have the menace. It's missing the paranoia. It's never in doubt about Spencer. The climax is less than climatic. It's a mostly weak film.

There's a little something for everyone in this tale of an astronaut, Johnny Depp, who has a blackout in space, comes home slightly different, and impregnates his wife, Charline Theron, and gives her two twins made of plasma or something.The general idea -- a brief unconscious period in space -- was done at least twice in the original "Twilight Zone" series, and both were an improvement over this ill-constructed and derivative junk, despite the lavish budget and rather good performances by the principals.Let's see. "The Astronaut's Wife" is almost a remake of "Rosemary's Baby". It's not nearly as well done because it includes some bits of business that are nothing but hoary clichés. Not they don't work. It's always shocking when a woman is alone, shivering with fright, in a dark room, and a hand reaches in from off screen and touches her shoulder, accompanied by a sting on the sound track. Clichés are usually effective. That's why they've become clichés.Turning from "Rosemary's Baby", with the alien things growing inside her, we can see the heavy hand of "The Omen." If you remember the crazy priest who tried to warn Gregory Peck about the plot and was pinned to the earth for his troubles, we have an extremely nervous and deranged black guy who plain disappears while trying to get his warning across.The ending -- in which Therone finally does her fake husband in, and he dissolves amid shrieks and a loud spasm of electronic noise -- has the electronic organisms, if that's the word, zipping into Theron herself, through her blue eyes. That's from "The Exorcist." Naturally, following the model of its forebears, the movie leaves open the door to a sequel, which I pray will never be committed to celluloid.I sat all the way through it just to make sure I'd gotten the ending right.This was written and directed by Rand Ravich. What writer Ravich had not already turned into a commercially oriented horror mess, director Ravich manages. He must have been weaned on television commercials because suddenly, and without purpose, we get enormous close ups of eyeballs and lips, especially Theron's lips. Don't get me wrong. Her lips are, well, inviting and her philtrum is exquisite. But it's all very much like a commercial for a brokerage house.See it if you must.

This movie had a lot of the common Hollywood formulas that would make any movie successful: a lot of sex, violence and death, attractive actors, even the magic Negro (Google it).However, it was lacking tremendously in certain areas. The acting was deplorable. I was shocked when I found out that Johnny Depp was commander Spencer. The storyline was awkward and the sex scenes were super awkward. The only positive thing I have to point out was the camera work. The soundtrack was strange too. They could have done so much better, but I could tell this was a relatively low budget film. Not anything I'll be looking at again.

From about half way through, where the film should have been more and more exciting, it felt more and more like a drama about an abused wife. There were gaps in the story, or at least I saw them as gaps. There were story bits which didn't make much sense to me. I can't decide if the acting was bad or just the lines/story. In a thriller or sci-fi in general, you are expected to see things which are not exactly realistic. But when they get to point where they become strong plot points which don't make any sense, then the game is lost.At least the ending was cool, not perfect, but cool.With small changes here and there, the movie could have been much better, but it's not.I give it a 6 out of 10 because it had some good moments (including great acting by the supporting cast) and I believe the heart of the makers was at the right place.