They say, shoot your shot. Elle Woods went the lawyer way and became a star at Harvard Law. Yes Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon’s big break; also note that the title of this film was perfect in more than one sense. Two decades later there is Tiffany “Rex” Simpson, a blonde Floridian who moves from behind the bar to potentially becoming the next Neil Armstrong after shooting her shot as NASA’s space program. Emma Roberts plays Rex in Space Cadet which is now available on Prime Video. Yes it has similar pun-appeal as well just like Legally Blonde besides people identifying similarities between two films which its writer-director Liz W. Garcia had intended.
Space Cadet might work best when played on the living room TV while your July 4th barbecue ensues around it, but if you pull up a seat and pay attention, the sometimes laugh-out-loud performances by Roberts, the reliably silly Poppy Liu and utterly goofy Tom Hopper might just keep your interest piqued. And hey, if you get through the cheesier moments, you may even feel a bit inspired and self-empowered as the credits roll.
Critics may argue that this is Roberts’ greatest role since Palo Alto because her new persona Rex is instantly lovable as an endearing bartender residing in a Florida community where parties are always happening with dreams of something bigger though. For instance, Nadine (Liu) plays her best friend who takes her to apply for NASA space program in their vicinity after she discovers Rex’s ambition — after working some kind of magic that Nadine won’t explain (but involves methods bordering on illegal), she succeeds to make sure Rex gets enrolled into NASA.
Pam (Gabrielle Union – good to see you again!) is one of these directors at NASA urging Logan (Tom Hopper from The Umbrella Academy) as well as Rudolph (Dave Foley from a recent season of Fargo) to think outside the box and find intellectuals who are not only on paper. All right, so, what say you about Rex? Unfortunately for her, it will mean that Calvin (Sam Robards), her father has to say goodbye for now. He is hilarious; among other things he’s been making a TV show where he scams guests into believing they are visiting haunted houses – with Rex hiding upstairs and banging noises in an attempt to scare them during the live broadcast.
Yes, Rex wants something more fulfilling and thinks NASA may have it. But let us also remember this is primarily a comedy movie; hence some of the other applicants she meets at the program are maybe just as peculiar. These include her neurotic roommate Violet (Kuhoo Verma of Murder Mystery 2), grace (Yasha Jackson who is quite attractive in that role) and Jack (Andrew Call who tends to push his performances too far towards physical comedy — but you’ll get there).
With a title like Space Cadet, and given its bright, nearly childlike nature this collection of clothes may remind you of Hilary Duff’s Disney Channel Original Movie Cadet Kelly in which the main character is made to go to military school but eventually thrives. The same inspiration for Space Cadet can be seen in parts of the movies, such as when Nadine, Rex’s best friend back home, is still trying to keep spinning her web of lies that had helped get Rex into NASA program at first. Poppy Liu looking ridiculous while impersonating multiple “professional references” Logan (Hopper) keeps calling his old roommate sometimes just to make sure that Rex did indeed have the impressive background listed on her obviously-fake CV.
However, this kid-friendly nature was also one of the movie’s weak points since there were numerous adults only humor instances. So maybe think twice before having disney fans gather around the TV for this one — though it isn’t entirely inappropriate stuff. Also, Space Cadet is overall a silly film at most times with moments where too much silliness occurs making it appear as if the film cannot know what kinds of people are watching.
Maybe though this Independence Day weekend streaming stupidity will be what people want in this polarized political climate. In any case, Space Cadet gives us all another reason not to spend time browsing through social media sites and think about our choices regarding careers etc., especially when we still could change something about them. It worked for Rex after all. Prime Video will globally premiere Space Cadet on Thursday July 4th. You can catch it.
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