Will all the beautiful couples in the audience be over the moon about this new romantic dramedy? I sadly can't make that promise, but hey, crazier things have happened. Fly Me To The Moon, directed by Greg Berlanti, shoots for the (movie) stars in that regard as it hopes to make you believe in love and lose your faith in the U.S. government, which isn't exactly hard, to be fair.
Scarlett Johansson co-stars as Kelly Jones, a Los Angeles-based marketing extraordinaire who gets hired by the government to rehabilitate NASA's public image as she's sent to Merritt Island, Florida where from Apollo 11 will soon be launched towards the Moon. There, she meets Channing Tatum's dashing launch director Cole Davis, and although their habits at their shared workplace clash hard, the two find themselves drawn to each other on a personal level. But soon enough, Kelly is required by government official Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) to produce a fake moon landing as a backup plan, something that would obviously be very much against the ideals of Cole and his right-hand man Henry Smalls (Ray Romano).
There's a lot going on during the movie's two-hour runtime, considering its genre, but something that might've got its two stars and other big names involved in it hooked is just how incredibly absorbing the energy is in the beginning, both visually and on the page. The building blocks are comfortably recognisable, Kelly being this spontaneous, creative ball of lightning while Cole is the buttoned-up, fairly stoic company guy—the opposites attract, you could say, yet it helps immensely when both are super attractive on the outside already. You get the charming meet-cute, friction at the workplace, plenty of romance tropes, longing looks at each other, everything you'd expect and want essentially. Johansson and Tatum are a solid romantic pairing who can balance the comedic and dramatic beats, Tatum in particular finds lots of interesting shades to his character that'll keep you along for the ride.
However, not only is ''Moon'' unable to maintain the momentum of its first 30 minutes, it sadly also gets progressively worse as it goes on. This is due to the arrival of the storyline regarding the fake moon landing, which was already baffling when you read the synopsis and just becomes furthermore disastrous once it becomes all that the movie has to offer. Written by Rose Leslie who's dealing with a story conceived by Keenan Flynn and Bill Kirstein, the scripting manages to lose all of the lovey-dovey charm and entertainment value for long stretches of time. Even the inclusion of Jim Rash as Lance Vespertine, the director of the fake broadcast, can't make it tolerable despite his kooky comedic contributions. The second half is a complete mess because there's no rhyme or reason to the structure since the inevitable quarrels between the lovers have no weight behind them. It's just tiresome and monotonous after a while.
This predicament also ties into the question whether Berlanti and co. truly knew what they were trying to make. If you're making a comedy or a dramedy with a romantic hook, what's the point of these preposterous conflicts and plotting, or the point of such an expensive façade since the movie sometimes becomes a commercial for NASA? You have two stars who can do the walk-and-talk scenes exceptionally well (that first scene at the pier is a perfect example), delightful supporting players like Romano (whose banter with Tatum is very sweet), Rash and Anna Garcia as Kelly's assistant Ruby, and an editor like Harry Jierjian who's the one department head who actually remembers that you're supposed to highlight passion and humour in your romantic comedy. Maybe the unimaginative character names were a warning sign, telling you that there are no proper character arcs for Johansson and Tatum to explore when it's all said and done.
Seeing how you're ultimately left cold when it comes to the romance and comedy—despite the actors' best efforts, a fun opening and the Florida heat—the movie has to be labelled as a failed mission, unfortunately. We shall hope that we later find out that this was just the underwhelming fake movie and that the real, truly excellent version is out there somewhere. Let's hope for the best, yeah?
Smileys: Channing Tatum, editing
Frowneys: Story, structure, atmosphere
Moe Berkus, Moe problems.
2.5/5
Where to watch:
This article may contain affiliate links, which means that we may earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links. Thank you for the support!
