Film review: ‘FLY ME TO THE MOON’, by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’
The fake moon landing conspiracy has been a fertile myth for many years and even inspired a decent thriller in 1977’s fake Mars landing romp, Capricorn One. Now, the amiable, old fashioned and slightly clunky Fly Me to the Moon, starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, attempts, with middling success, to build a rom-com and a good old American propaganda film around this urban myth.
Scarlett plays fast talking New York advertising guru, Kelly Jones who makes a tidy living running rings around stereotypical stuffed shirt corporate males. An unexpected approach from shady government operative Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) who seems to have some serious dirt on her, sees Kelly recruited to sell the financially foundering Apollo 11 Moonshot to the world. At NASA, however, she runs into muscly, all-American hero, Cole Davis, a Korean War vet and Moon mission Launch Commander who’s appalled by Kelly’s plan to have astronauts appear in ads for watches and breakfast cereals. Will the initial frostiness between oversized boy scout Cole and silver-tongued huckster Kelly give way to romance? I think we know the answer there but will it survive her involvement in Berkus’ plan to film a fake version of the Moon landing just in case the real one doesn’t deliver the goods?
Fly Me to the Moon tries admirably to balance comedy, romance, political intrigue, historical drama and a celebration of scientific ingenuity. It soon starts to resemble a circus plate spinner, though, as it jumps precariously between these different elements. Consequently, some aspects of the film work better than others.
It mostly succeeds as a space race movie giving us a decent look at working life at NASA as they construct the rocket and prepare the crew. Understandably, the film pays reverent homage to the remarkable feat of invention, intellectual rigour and adventurous spirit that was Apollo 11. Director Greg Berlanti (Love, Simon) also does a decent job of integrating CGI and actual Apollo 11 footage. The film also acknowledges the tragedy of the deadly Apollo 1 mission, something that haunts Cole.
As a romance, the film is lukewarm, the pairing of Scarlett and Channing is enjoyable enough but they don’t exactly have molten hot chemistry. That’s as much to do with the generic script and tepid tone rather than the actors themselves. Scarlett actually delivers one of her better recent performances and she’s much more animated and committed to the role than she was in the disappointing Black Widow. She also convinces as a kind of female version of Better Call Saul’s Jimmy McGill with her mercurial ability to con people and extricate herself from dicey situations. Mr Tatum does an ok job in a role that a Rock Hudson or maybe 20 years ago a George Clooney would have absolutely nailed. While Tatum seems to have been genetically engineered to play all-American heroes, it’s still a little hard, however, to buy him as a Mission Control commander, even a fictional one. Woody Harrelson is typically enjoyable and brings an appropriate mix of quirkiness and menace to the role of the sneaky Berkus. Ray Romano is mostly wasted, though, as Tatum’s NASA buddy.
The film doesn’t exactly hit the mark as a comedy, there are some as amusing moments – the best being the all-too-brief snarky banter between Berkus and fake Moon landing director Lance Verspertine (Jim Rash) – but most of the gags are limp and predictable. This film recalls but falls well short of a few other politically-themed comedies including the Watergate pastiche Dick and Barry Levinson’s Wag the Dog (in which Woody also appeared). It’s nowhere near as funny as Dick and lacks the satirical bite of Wag the Dog.
Given the talent on hand and the intoxicating appeal of the 60’s space race, Fly Me to the Moon should have been much better. Despite its numerous shortcomings, including waving the Stars and Stripes too flagrantly, though, it has just enough goofball charm and technical proficiency to make it a passable alternative to the mass destruction cinema of most contemporary big budget Hollywood films.
Nick’s rating: ***
Genre: Drama/ Romantic/ Comedy/ Historical.
Classification: M.
Director(s): Greg Berlanti.
Release date: 11th July 2024.
Running time: 132 mins.
Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.