A Major Disappointment

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

2 hours and 10 minutes painful and boring, despite of a screenplay pretty consistent. Problem with these "patriotic" movies (US, Russian here, Cambodian or wherever) is: they all fall into THE trap of soppiness in the name of the pride, honors or glory of the stories they relate. Evgenyi Mironov's acting is as smooth and polished as a Russian virgin waiting for her charming prince. Only the role of the CCCP space program chief is very nicely played in this cinematic wreck. It is also notworthy that pictures quality is awesome

Space exploration in the USSR is one of the major topics in modern day Russian cinematography these days and one of those fascinating stories is the one about the first exit into the open space by Alexei Leonov, but also the chaos that followed their return to Earth and the battle to rescue them from ice storm in the desolated area of the country they landed. However, all the unbelievable elements were not always collected and arranged together by the script, so there is a overall sense of a pathetic and over the top subplots all through the entire curse of the movie. ''Spacewalk'' has an interesting subject, but also an unstable script as well.

Despite strong visual fx, a handful of beautiful images and two appealing leads, this film takes a remarkable true story and smothers it in cheesy dialogue, facile inanity and endless sub-Hollywood clichés. The tone is set early on by some painful dialogue and every moment of dramatic potential is neutered by the overbearing music score and painfully earnest direction.A real shame, as the story carries so much potential and there is clearly some talent involved in this production.

The movie has it all: amazing story based on real events, charismatic actors, a lot of emotions, nice comedy moments and great filming. This movie shows again that you don't need explosions or a lot of action to make a movie thrilling. Also this is not about the USSR and its space achievements, although as a Russian I did fell somehow proud watching it. It is about 2 strong willed men, who were following their dreams and have not given up. So don't be afraid of political propaganda :)