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Sometimes a movie concept feels fake, like a faux trailer for a fictional film that appears within the world of another film. Fly Me To The Moon, starring Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson, is one of those movies that simply can’t be real. A romantic comedy set in the world of faking a moon landing sounds too bizarre to be true, yet it nearly works.
Manhattan marketing genius Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) gets plucked out of her Mad Men world by mysterious government official Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson doing very little but wear a fedora) to help NASA improve their public image.
Kelly is immediately a fish out of water in Florida, her gung-ho approach contrasting the methodical engineers on the ground. No one struggles more with Kelly’s casual approach to the rules and the truth than launch director Cole Davis (Channing Tatum). It’s a classic enemies-to-lovers tale fitting to the era Fly Me To The Moon is set.
Fly Me To The Moon review
Kelly helps boost NASA’s profile with the American public through sponsorship deals and good PR, helping them get funding. Fly Me To The Moon is a good satire on how politicians can easily be courted and swayed by those in the know.
The predictable rom-com beats are the least enjoyable element of Fly me To The Moon. Johansson and Tatum have good on-screen chemistry, but the romance brings nothing new to the story. Somewhere in this film is a whip-smart satire on how American politics and conspiracy theory intertwine, hidden under layers of a stale romantic comedy.
But Moe is concerned that the public won’t care about the moon landing unless it is aired on television live. He tasks Kelly with filming a fake moon landing, just in case the real one doesn’t go to plan. Laughing at a conspiracy theory may have been funny a decade or so ago, but in recent years, it feels misjudged and unfunny.
Kelly has to bring in the best director no one has ever heard of to film the fake moon landing footage. In enters the scene-stealing advertising director Lance (Community star Jim Rash), who is every queer creative stereotype role rolled up into one human. It’s a character that toes the line between offensive and funny, saved by Rash’s commitment to the larger-than-life character. Rash’s scene-chewing will leave audiences wondering what film this could have been.
Scarlett Johansson fizzes on screen as Kelly, with her Marilyn-esque blonde bob and wiggle skirts. The most memorable aspect of the film is seeing Kelly turn herself into whoever she is speaking to wants her to be. One minute, she is a homely wife; the next, an ingenue from Georgia before commanding a room of secret services officials. Johansson eases through every character with a believable charm. Is she a con woman or an excellent marketer, and what is the difference between the two?
Channing Tatum can’t quite match Johansson’s energy, struggling with some of his character’s emotional baggage as a war veteran with one failed rocket mission behind him. Tatum is the weak link in a skilled cast, which also include
Fly Me To The Moon is tonally odd, mixing fiction and reality in an often uncomfortable way. Cole and Kelly are entirely fictional people on an entirely fiction project in a very real slice of history. While playing around with the Moon Landing and whether the footage was faked or not doesn’t feel offensive, using the real-life Apollo 1 to give Cole a backstory does feel misjudged.
Grade: C+
Fly Me to the Moon
A romantic comedy set against the backdrop of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon launch.
Release Date: July 12, 2024
Director: Greg Berlanti
Cast: Scarlett Johansson , Channing Tatum , Woody Harrelson
