“The Space Between Us” was a cute story, but some of the characters had qualities that were not very enjoyable. The movie follows teenager Gardner (Asa Butterfield) as he comes to Earth for the first time after living his whole life on Mars. The romance comes in when he goes to find Tulsa (Britt Robertson), a misunderstood girl who he had been communicating with on Mars. Together, they search to find Gardner’s father, who may not know he exists.

The search for Gardner’s father is an interesting addition to the story, so his adventure on Earth is not only to be with a girl, but he is looking for something even bigger.

However, there is also an internal conflict going on with the man who started the program to live on Mars, Nathaniel Shepard (Gary Oldman). Nathaniel originally decided to leave Gardner’s birth a secret, but, with persuasion from Gardner’s maternal figure Kendra (Carla Gugino), he agrees to let Gardner come to Earth. Nathaniel’s debate over what to do with Gardner was sometimes frustrating, but it was also apparent that he cares about Gardner, which makes his character seem like a real person. Kendra was lovable as one of Gardner’s parent figures, and she seemed to always care about his well being, which was a nice addition to one of the characters looking for him when he goes to find his father.

Since Gardner was raised by scientists older than him, he has trouble communicating with normal people his age on Earth, and Butterfield does a good job portraying that trait through the way he spoke to other characters.

Tulsa is a hardened girl who lives in foster care, but her character almost seems a bit too rebellious, and her pessimistic attitude got boring as the movie went on, but it got better when she became happier after she spent a lot of time with Gardner. Throughout their search for Gardner’s father, the two characters have little money and do not want to be traced by their technology, which leads them to steal things, including cars. While Gardner feels uncomfortable with theft, Tulsa seems to be perfectly fine with it, and that is probably supposed to create a rebellious feel to the situation they are in, but instead it makes the viewer feel uncomfortable with how they are approaching their adventure.

While this movie was mainly emotional, because Gardner’s body can not withstand Earth’s conditions, there are several humorous instances that provide comic relief, such as when he memorizes lines from old movies to say to Tulsa. He also goes around asking people about their favorite part of Earth, which is cute and a little humorous. These make it more than just a sad love story.

As a whole, this movie is very romantic and exciting. It will make people (most likely teenage girls) emotional. Not only is love involved in the story, but there is also a life changing adventure, and a goofy twist on that with Gardner’s life on Mars. However, the rebellious edge to Tulsa’s personality gets old quickly, but can be overlooked and exchanged for the qualities of the other characters.

“The Space Between Us”: 3/5