Blue-collar science fiction is a time-honored tradition from the ’70s. Trumbull’s Silent Runnings, Carpenter’s Dark Star, Hyam’s Outland, and Duncan Jones’ Moon all demonstrate a conceit wherein corporate overlords screw over the working man. Oftentimes, these films take place either around the orbit of the Moon or somewhere we haven’t yet been in the solar system. With Berton Pierce’s Adventurados we will see a film that’s devoted to truckers in space or cargo pilots; Irish ones at that.
Spyre (David Masterson) and Frug (Stephen Patrick Hanna) are nearing the end of their careers. Facing the prospect of a subpar retirement package, the two business partners and friends agree to an off-the-book shipping job for a massive interstellar corporation, Blackburton. Promised a payday ten times the fee for this hush-hush mission, Spyre and Frug accept with some trepidation. As far as they know, they’re both 3rd generation clones, the most expendable and useless generation of clones. For this mission, they will be joined by Dru (Gabrielle Miller), who is safeguarding Blackburton’s cargo.
Spyre and Frug will have comedic run-ins with Canadian Russian highwaymen, Union Pilots, and a computer interface that only speaks Spanish. Nevertheless, they are determined to prevail, as the fee, they will receive upon successful completion, will enable them to find somewhere quiet to live and flirt with the pretty local girls. As you may surmise, they plan on retiring somewhere tropical.
“Facing the prospect of a subpar retirement package, the two business partners and friends agree to an off-the-book shipping job…”
Existing most of your life in the vacuum of space requires you to develop some coping mechanisms. For Spyre, this is watching the interspace television offerings. For Frug, he likes to spacewalk and meditate on the cruelty of fate that nothing on his cargo vessel ever works. There are many cute bits that are observed as the erstwhile crew shleps their cargo to Earth Station. Overall, being an Irish approach to comedy, I would have you know Adventurados will achieve more grins and awkward giggle moments than belly laughs.
This is not to say it’s funny; it is. The sense of humor is that of the dark and down Irish sensibility. The sort of comedy you could expect to see in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. It’s humorous without being gut-bustlingly funny. But, of course, the actors performing the comedy bring their energies to the fore, and with Masterson and Hanna, you have two veterans who are quite funny in their domestic market but may not translate so well across the world.
The direction, writing, and visual effects are all spot on. I love Pierce’s use of models. From what I could tell, there was little to no CGI in this film. I expect the whole thing to be practical. For that, it wins itself back a few points. I enjoyed Pierce’s scenario, and the director brings the right amount of high stakes blended with sheer utter boredom.
Seek out Adventurados, if you like Irish films or you want to experience a blue-collar comedy in space.
