Night Sky (2022) : A Review of Sorts
Mmm.
How to start?
Firstly, I suppose, I have to say I didn't know what to expect when I finally decided to watch 'Night Sky' on Amazon Prime. Certainly the description didn't pull me in - an elderly couple with access to another planet under their shed - BUT I was intrigued by the casting of Sissy Spacek and J.K. Simmons, as I'm a fan of both. So I put it on my watch list and let it idle for a month or two, maybe three, before I was finally up for another Sci-Fi.
So on it went...
And I was transported!
Seriously, Sissy Spacek (as Irene) and J.K. Simmons (as Franklin) are mesmerising, brilliant, and wonderful in this. I loved their characters, a devotion they have for each other, and the arc we're shown of their younger selves becoming the elderly couple. It was captivating. I just wanted to know all about them. They even made access to another planet, lying hidden under an old shed and a secret only they shared, a completely believable concept in an old-timerish sort of way. They were brilliant, and I would watch it again just for their performances.
Grumpy.
Crotchety.
Loveable and real. Hell. I'm turning into that sort of old person. But they weren't all. There were a crop of secondary characters who added to the unfolding tale - namely Chai Hansen (as Jude) and Beth Lacke (as Chandra) - and with special mention to Adam Bartley (as Byron), who never failed to be at once annoying, sad, lonely, loveable and ultimately honest in his efforts of friendship with Franklin. A dark humour that was stirred into the pot. Fun. And so too was the inclusion of an Argentinian aspect to the tale - nice to see a Spanish-speaking cast and language used.
All good.
That said though;
For me... It was something of a tale of two parts. One part quite brilliant - as detailed above - and the other part meandering and stuttering confusedly along as it tried to be something it wasn't. Strangely, the part that didn't work was that part of the tale which was meant to add action and adrenalin - y'know, the exciting part that ends up falling a bit flat. It really did feel like it was written, produced, and directed, by two completely unrelated teams (I don't know if this was the case), one being of Hollywood calibre, and the other being more akin to a Cheech and Chong production (with their serious hats on). Sadly, it was also clearly written with a second series primarily in mind (all much too obviously) rather than focussing on serving up a complete and polished tale in the first instance.
Meh.
A shame really.
Ultimately it's a tale of loss and love, of life and the unknown possibilities of the universe, and a need to have meaning. I give it a 7/10 overall, but with a 10/10 for that part of the story - and characters - portrayed by Sissy Spacek and J.K. Simmons. They will certainly not leave you disappointed.
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