'Lucy in the Sky' Review: Natalie Portman Stars in an Astronaut Love Triangle Inspired by Reality

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Lucy in the Sky."

Just a few seconds into "Lucy in the Sky," the film's director Noah Hawley makes the audience aware that this is "based on real events," and unless you're familiar with the story of former NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak from 2007, then this latest space movie might not be what you're expecting.

In February 2007, after Oefelein ended the affair and became involved with Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, Nowak confronted her romantic rival in the parking lot of Orlando International Airport after driving all the way from Houston. She was arrested and subsequently charged with the attempted kidnapping of Shipman. Nowak ultimately pleaded guilty to felony burglary and misdemeanor battery charges in November 2009 and served a year of probation.

While the names of the characters are different and some of the specific details have been changed, it also incorporates many elements from Nowak's story. Sadly, you might also know this story by the one element that many of the world's tabloids chose to focus on, which was a claim that Nowak carried adult diapers on the long trip from Houston to Orlando to confront Shipman. (The account has been denied by Nowak.) Thankfully, that particular detail is omitted in the movie.

Natalie Portman stars as Lucy Cola, the character based on Nowak, and she gives a strong performance. Jon Hamm plays astronaut Mark Goodwin, who is based on Oefelein — and who here wouldn't want to be in a love triangle with Hamm? The movie benefits from a cast that gives all-round stellar performances, including those by Dan Stevens as Lucy's husband; Ellen Burstyn as Lucy's grandmother; Pearl Amanda Dickson as their daughter; and Zazie Beetz as the character based on Shipman. Nick Offerman and Tig Notaro also pop up in two great cameo roles.

Probably this movie's biggest criticism is that it further fuels stereotypes of heroic men and emotional women in the so-called "science faction" genre. While films that profile historic space missions obviously can't get around the fact that every Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronaut was a white male, it is true that many central characters in near-future science fiction stories are of the XY chromosome variety: Brad Pitt in "Ad Astra," Matt Damon in "The Martian" and even Sam Rockwell in "Moon," for example. But, there are notable exceptions, including Sandra Bullock in "Gravity," Jodie Foster in "Contact" and Sigourney Weaver in "Alien."

Retired astronaut Marsha Ivins pushed back against the movie, questioning why this rare story about a female astronaut opted to show one losing her marbles, and that is something "Lucy in the Sky" will be condemned for. Ivins also criticized the premise of the plot and denied that there is such a thing as a "longstanding idea that says astronauts begin to lose their grip on reality after being in space for an extended period of time."

In the movie, Cola is so overwhelmed by her trip to space that her perspective on everything is changed forever. Her mind is literally blown away by the indescribable experience of looking down upon our fragile, blue-green planet from 254 miles up. Her experience is less like PTSD and more like stepping inside the Total Perspective Vortex from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." (This was a phone booth-size machine that displayed, to the person that had stepped into it, the infinity of creation. The sheer enormity of the universe and the realization of the utterly insignificant effect they actually have on anything, sends the poor individual spiraling into insanity.)

Back on Earth, Cola resumes her duties at NASA and begins training for her next mission; understandably, she's keen to get back up there as soon as possible. And she probably would've been able to eventually regulate her emotions, were it not for Hamm's devilishly handsome Goodwin. He flirts outrageously with Cola, who finds that this new source of excitement is a substitute, causing all that serotonin to be released, giving her a high that makes her feel just a little bit like what she experienced when she was in space. The relationship escalates and soon turns into a full-on affair, which becomes more and more intense. Naturally, it's no skin off Goodwin's nose, because he's not married anymore.