Fly Me to the Moon

When I saw the trailer for FLY ME TO THE MOON, I thought it looked like it would be fun, but I wasn't sure if it would be good. It is a movie taking place during the great space race of the 60s, where a shady government agent Moe (Woody Harrelson) hires the best marketing specialist Kelly (Scarlett Johansson) to publicize NASA to save their space program. She tries to work with the Apollo 11 launch director Cole (Channing Tatum), who is against the whole idea. The lines are blurred between acting and lying in this romance/comedy/political satire/historical drama. That's my main problem with this: it tries to be too many things, making the tone and pacing jarring for the audience. I didn't really feel the chemistry between the leads. I heard Chris Evans was going to be the lead. That would've been much better as him and "Scar-Jo" are good friends. Nothing against Channing, I just think he needed more to work with. It didn't feel like they were in the 60s: the costume designs were, but the way they spoke, not so much. Saying all of that, I still liked the fun ride. The side characters knew what kind of movie this was, especially Ray Romano and Jim Rash. The leads' backstories were good as well, even though I wish I had known a little earlier so I could have something to hang on to, character-wise. This was a perfectly charming crowd-pleaser that, to me, felt very much like a "studio-driven" movie. Original idea but somehow formulaic. FLY ME TO THE MOON is about how people will believe anything if Scarlett Johansson sells it to them. I still recommend seeing this "bit of fluff", as my uncle would say.

This movie is NOT generic. At all. If the premise of faking the mood landing is not in this movie than yes it's a pretty generic rom com but because that's the entire movie I don't get how this is generic.

If you have a beating heart and sense of humor this movie will charm you. ScarJo is throwing 100 mph in every scene. She's outstanding. This is a signature performance in her catalog and really fleshes out what makes her 1 of 1. One down side is that Channing Tatum is very good in the movie but he's not on her level and I don't think anyone would argue that. Her scenes with Jim Rash (sneaky MVP) are all time great. They have some magic I hope they do more work together. I've always been found of his performance in Community and his screen play The Way Way Back.

The other surprise for me was how great Woody and ScarJo are together. That was the secret sauce of the movie. Not just their acting chemistry but the idea of a Nixon enforcer and fixer battling with this con artist type advertising saleswoman is beautiful stuff. It's really breathtaking to witness.

The other part of this movie that provides some fun for all ages is the stuff with the cat in the movie. This is such a cute and realistic use of a cat who just lingers around an area getting in the way just in the smallest way.

Fly Me to the Moon is a lovely throwback to the kind of films that are so rarely seen these days. Even though a lot of the film revolves around filming a fake version of the Moon landing this clearly loves Nasa and their achievements. It's a fun romantic comedy that moves between all the drama, comedy, and romance in a way that can sustain a run time that's slightly overly long.

Scarlett Johansson & Channing Tatum are a surprisingly strong pairing. Even when they're at odds or have completely fallen out, their chemistry is strong enough to make you root for them to end up together like they inevitably will and they're both given a good amount of depth to work with. Woody Harrelson uses his easygoing charm to be slightly sinister here and Jim Rash is very funny in a very broad fashion.

Greg Berlanti's direction has a nice amount of energy for the most part. There's plenty of split screen and the period setting gives it a lot more life in the visuals than most streaming films. It's just the Moon landing sequence itself that needed greater showmanship to match the reverence with which it's celebrated. Daniel Pemberton's score has a warmth to it that keeps proceedings as tonally on point as possible.

It's becoming increasingly frustrating on IMDb that good movies often receive low ratings while some less deserving ones get rated surprisingly high.

That said, this movie deserves a solid 7 for several reasons. First, it effectively illustrates how the conspiracy began, allowing viewers to connect the dots and see how a significant achievement was turned into a conspiracy.

Further, Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum are perfectly cast in their roles and they complement each other well on screen. Woody Harrelson and Ray Romano also deliver strong performances, fitting seamlessly into the story.

With few quality films this summer, this one stands out as a must watch. So dont think twice, just watch.

I dithered over whether to watch this but we went for it and it was an enjoyable couple of hours in the cinema. There's no comparison between the two leads; Johanson is engaging and funny. Tatum is surely just a Thunderbird puppet both in looks and acting. Harrelson adds his own typically unique character to the role he plays. It was hilarious reading some reviewers complaining of the lack of historical accuracy. That's like complaining that Airplane doesn't accurately reflect what happens to an aircraft in emergency. The plot is described elsewhere and whilst it's a bit daft, I'm sure some people will take it a bit too seriously but go, watch it and enjoy an easy couple of hours.