Fly Me to the Moon

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Not for me. I found 'Fly Me to the Moon' to be a disappointment. A sure sign of that being the case is that I don't have any positives for this movie. Well, OK, Scarlett Johansson is good, but there honestly isn't any other element to this that I can say I enjoyed. Johansson's co-star Channing Tatum feels miscast, I like the guy as an actor but here I didn't feel like he fit - visually his character didn't look or sound like someone out of the 1960s, in my eyes at least. None of the support cast did anything for me either, though Woody Harrelson and Ray Romano are passable. Away from the cast, the story also didn't hold much interest for me. I feel like the moon landing bits, generally speaking, is all pretty standard and stuff we've seen before. The romance plot isn't merged in well, I didn't sense any chemistry between Johansson and Tatum. The music is also quite weak, almost TV-esque. The run time is also too long, no way this 2024 flick needed to last over two hours! If I ignore all of that, then I guess I enjoyed it...

"Fly Me to the Moon" is a major disappointment. The pacing is excruciatingly slow, and the writing is mind-numbingly boring. Even the eye-candy cast can't salvage this mess. If you're a NASA or space enthusiast hoping for some thrills, prepare to be let down. The movie reeks of an AI-generated 4th of July release, hammering American values so hard you'll get a headache. There's only so many times you can roll your eyes before you want to stab them. Had enough and left the cinema midway. Save yourself the trouble and skip this one. Your time and money deserve better. If you're after a space adventure, there are plenty of other films that'll give you a real blast without the American patriotism overload.

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.

Scarlett Johannson is a confidence trickster who can sell anything to anyone. Naturally, she ends up in advertising, and is recruited to "sell" the moon programme to Congress, the US public, and anyone else willing to open their wallet. Quite why the moon programme needed such a hard sell isn't explained, but this isn't the sort of film where logic is of primary importance. Channing Tatum is the dedicated but naive NASA flight commander who's alternately charmed by Johannson and appalled at her machinations. She, in turn, is appalled by Woody Harrelson (clearly having a ball playing a sinister government fixer) who insists on a contingency plan of filming a fake moon landing in case the real one goes wrong. She recruits Jim Rash (also having a ball as an outrageously camp and self-centred director) and they set up in a disused hangar on the Cape Canaveral site. What could possibly go wrong? Conspiracy nuts can get over themselves at this point. This film is a comedy, and gives us several laugh-out-loud moments and a nice, feel-good ending. The cat was great, too.

7.8/10 (Definitely Recommend) "Fly Me to the Moon" is a romanticized account of the Apollo 11 moon mission, and how they put a man in space. Despite the film's storytelling being primarily focused on a launch director (Tatum) and a marketing maven (Johansson), it truly pulls you into the overall story. Scarlett Johansson and Woody Harrelson fit well into the story, but even after watching the film I'm still iffy about Channing Tatum's performance. For me he just seemed like a modern day guy who pops up in the 1960s and wears increasingly cliche "Star Trek" shirts especially when he wore yellow. Despite that that slightly ill feeling the overall chemistry of the cast was great. Tatum was really the only one who felt "out". The cinematography along with the score and sets made it feel like the 1960s, but with a clean look. The combination of both archival footage and the modern film gave you the feeling that you were experiencing the Apollo 11 launch for the first time in your life. My heart was racing with every aspect despite the full knowledge that crew went up, stepped on the moon, and returned. This film is definitely date night worthy as it's very much focused on the relationship between the two aforementioned work titles of Scar Jo and Channing Tatum, but it still meshes well with a historical aspect. The film also has rewatch-ability as I would watch it again. Overall, there is a good amount to like about the film. The characters, the setting, and the editing are my top three. Definitely worthy of seeing at least once, and as stated it does make for a good date night movie too. That's it for now. Thanks for taking time to read my review. Happy watching and enjoy the show!