It is time for a round up of new films that I have seen on Netflix this month.
Spaceman
Adam Sandler stars as Jakub, an astronaut who is sent to the edge of the solar system but that does not enable to get him away from thoughts of his collapsing marriage. He starts to believe that a creature from the beginning of time lurking in the shadows of his ship may be able to help him. Sandler has branched out from his goofy comedy roles in recent years and I have enjoyed all of his more serious films before this one. However, Spaceman does not work at all. It aspires to be profound, but the characters of Jakub and his wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan) are so poorly defined, that the whole film descends into tedium. Mulligan can never be bad but she has little to work with, and the creature, voiced by Paul Dano, is ridiculous.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10
Players
Sharp-tongued sports writer, Mack (Gina Rodriguez), encouraged by her best friend Adam (Damon Wayans Jr) indulges in a series of one night stands. However, when she meets Nick (Tom Ellis), she develops feelings for him, and enlists the help of Adam to get him interested in her. Despite the good cast, this is pretty dire. The characters seem to be in their 40’s but act as immaturely and obnoxiously as young teens. There are no surprises in the plot and precious few laughs.
Rating: 2.5 out of 10
Art of Love
After learning that the art thief she has been chasing is her ex-lover, an officer working for Interpol concocts a plan to catch him red-handed. This variation on The Thomas Crown Affair is slick enough and has some great locations, but is full of plot holes.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Murder Mubarak
When the swanky Royal Delhi Club’s fitness coach is murdered on the club’s premises, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Bhavani Singh (Pankaj Tripathi) is assigned to solve the case. This murder mystery does share the same issues as many other Indian films. Some of the acting is hammy, the score is intrusive, and the length excessive. However, the puzzle is an intriguing one, full of suspects and red herrings, with the potential killers gathered together at the end as Bhavani Singh uncovers the killer. It also features a superb performance from Sara Ali Khan as the helpful Bambi and Vijay Varma is good as the man who loves her.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Irish Wish
Lindsay Lohan’s return continues with another Netflix romcom. She stars as Maddie, a single woman who’s dream guy is days away from marrying her best friend in Ireland. She makes a spontaneous wish on an ancient stone and that magically alters her fate and turns her into the bride. There is very little charm in this story. Lohan is far too old for her part as a woman obsessing about a man and the characterisation of the Irish cast is paper thin.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10