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Sep 16, 2014 By Austin Trunick Web Exclusive

At its least dismal moments, the sci-fi comedy Space Station 76 plays something like Anchorman in space. The film has a chauvinist, booze-guzzling ship’s captain at its center; here, Patrick Wilson doing his best Ron Burgundy impression, down to the bushy moustache. The station’s crew is caught by surprise when the newly-appointed assistant captain turns out to be Liv Tyler, and they’re left speculating amongst themselves whether a woman is fit for the job. Because, you see, it’s still the 1970s on this ship for some reason that’s never explained within the film itself. Cue many of the same, cheeky hindsight-driven gags that were funny in the Anchorman movies, but here, unfortunately, aren’t. And that’s Space Station 76 in its best moments. The rest of the movie is composed of forced subplots (Wilson’s closeted captain had an affair with Tyler’s male predecessor) or clumsy metaphors (a little girl has a pet gerbil which keeps eating its newborn babies; meanwhile, there are parenting issues aplenty aboard the ship.)

When you’ve got a good cast — Liv Tyler and Patrick Wilson are joined by Matt Bomer and Jerry O’Connell, all of wom are surprisingly game for the subpar material — but your funniest performer is a foot-tall robot therapist that spits out Valium prescriptions, there are serious problems with your screenplay. Space Station 76 has five credited writers, but only three or four worthwhile jokes. Perhaps if it had played up its retro setting in way that didn’t feel like a rip-off of a popular — and superior — comedy franchise, it could have been a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the version we got feels terribly derivative, and like a complete waste of its premise.

www.spacestation76.com

Author rating: 1.5/10