Film Review: Passengers

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*Warning: Slight Spoilers Ahead*

Many comparisons have been made between “Collateral Beauty” & “Passengers.” Both play host to slightly misleading trailers, negating to highlight key decisions made by main characters that ultimately drive the story. Whereas “Collateral Beauty” flat-lined due to its trickery and misconception, “Passengers” makes the most of its twist and stabilizes. It’s a bumpy ride, but I felt it stuck the landing.

What the trailer for “Passengers” leads you to believe is that two passengers aboard a spaceship destined for a new planet wake up from hibernation ninety years too soon. In actuality, only Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) awakens early via technical malfunction. He spends over a year in limbo, trapped within the Avalon while everyone else is fast asleep. He exhausts every escape route possible, but to no avail. Communication can’t be reached for at least a decade, he has no power to access and/or override restricted areas, and can’t fix his broken hibernation pod despite his engineering skills. He can’t even indulge in the top-class pleasantries seeing as how he’s not a gold member (a not-so-subtle jab at class warfare).

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The only solace Jim finds is in pounding back drinks at the bar. Luckily for him, the robotic assistants are up and running, meaning the bartender, Arthur (Michael Sheen), is awake to serve him. While he’s able to hack into the luxury suite and indulge in fine dining and entertainment, he yearns for companionship. A year in isolation in a cramped location is enough to drive a man crazy; just ask Jack Torrance. Just as he’s about to commit suicide, he discovers the pod of Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence).

He becomes obsessed with Aurora, sifting through her files to learn about her. She is the daughter of a Pulitzer-Prize winning father, an author herself. She chose to leave her life behind in favor of a new planet in order to craft a groundbreaking story, an experience no other author can lay claim to. Her writing is intoxicating as are her perky interviews. Jim is smitten.

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Despite battling his conscience not to, Jim purposely awakens Aurora in the hopes of her falling in love with him. I suspect this is where a lot of the negativity towards the film is coming from. Much like with the friends in “Collateral Beauty,” the driving force of the film isn’t fantastical but mean-spirited selfishness. One would be hard-pressed to root for Jim, seeing as how his intentions and approach is downright creepy.

Except that they’re not. Don’t mistake me for defending nor simplifying Jim’s actions, but approach my perception with an open mind. Jim is not sound of mind. He’s spent over a year in isolation and is on the brink of insanity. While his affection for a stranger can be viewed as horrifying, in his warped mind it’s justified. He sees Aurora as his savior, his fascination with her misguiding him to believe that lust and crippling depression are actually a sign of pure love. The Jim prior to this awakening wouldn’t have even fathomed forcing Aurora out of her slumber, let alone fall in love with her without even personally knowing her.

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We know this because of how Jim acts. The moral human within him still exists, fighting him to not awaken Aurora. When he does, there’s immediate regret in his eyes, him shuffling away to gather himself. Yes, the two wind up falling in love, but it’s with surprising hesitation on Jim’s part. One of his first calls of action after disturbing Aurora is to confide in Arthur, whose mechanics prevent him from understanding human emotion. He sees this is a great opportunity, failing to register Jim’s remorse.

The issue I had with their relationship wasn’t why it began, but in how schmaltzy it was. At its core, this is an unconventional love story, one sprung from minor insanity. And yet, the courting between the two is formulaic and cheesy. Cutesy love letters, bubbly dialogue, and a romantic stroll through space accompanied by an overbearing soundtrack. Jon Spaihts’ dialogue is drenched in saccharine, thankfully made bearable by two game performances. Lawrence isn’t shy to schmaltzy dialogue (“Silver Linings Playbook” being a good example), so it’s no surprise she can handle it with ease. Pratt is surprising, delivering his dialogue with confidence (and a little humor) all the while carrying the load of a man stricken with contrition. This is one of his better performances to date, balancing charm and depression seamlessly.

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I don’t know how much blame I can lay on Spaihts, however, seeing as how his script has been in development hell since 2007. I know not of any meddling to his work, but do know that it’s Morten Tyldum’s job as a director to weed out the shortcomings regardless of circumstances. He struggles in making the dialogue palpable, despite his keen awareness to realizing both characters’ dwindling mental states. Thankfully for him, Pratt & Lawrence carried him through this portion of the story.

The trailers also made “Passengers” out to be a rescue mission of sorts, the leads performing Hail Marys in order to save a fledgling spaceship. That aspect wasn’t misleading and is present, taking up the bulk of the final act. There are key mentions and nods throughout, such as robots malfunctioning and the ship temporarily shutting down. One amazing sequence involves gravity loss hurling our heroes around, Aurora trapped in a tidal wave in an enclosed pool area. While the love story overthrows the sci-fi adventure, it never suffocates it.

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The thrilling finale plays into Jim’s redemption wonderfully! It should come as no surprise that Aurora eventually finds out about Jim’s deceit and is understandably furious (and if that is a surprise, you were forewarned, just saying). To Tyldum’s credit, he doesn’t rush into her acceptance of his apology nor resorts to cheap drama to bring them back together. He incorporates the spaceship’s spiral into possible self-destruction just as their tension is reaching a fever pitch, giving them reason to work together. This aids in preventing the redemption from feeling too sappy, even when the script calls for it.

“Passengers” may not be quite what I expected, but I enjoyed the finish product as is. It certainly has flaws, some jarring enough to prevent many from enjoying the film. But, Tyldum’s ambitious direction when it comes to both the sci-fi and psychosis of isolation, coupled with strong performances from Pratt & Lawrence, overcome the flaws. It may not have been the twisty sci-fi adventure I was expecting, but the romance was sweet enough and the effects dazzling enough to endear me to it.

Final Rating: B