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.

We can all learn something new about one of history's most well know events, the Apollo 11 rocket launch and moon landing through a different lens. Witness the favorable effects on public perception and governmental fund allocations achieved by marketing and Public Relations tactics bringing much-needed support to the mission. This is how many of today's well-known brands (such as Omega watches) got their recognition off the ground and virtually launched into the stratosphere. The pacing never felt like watching paint dry, and the acting of Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson was refreshing to follow.

This film has nothing to say and there is no reason to exist. It's sort of a romcom but it's not very romantic. It's sort of a comedy but not really. It's kind of about a conspiracy theory but only slightly and even then not really. It pulls its punches, doesn't know what it is, and doesn't ultimately have any point to it. It's more amusing than actually funny. It has 2 characters that are meant to fall in love but you won't feel it. It feels like someone told ChatGPT to "make a generic movie" and it shoved all the ingredients together.

I got bored watching it. It's fun enough, it passes the time, but I also felt like I wanted to avoid watching films ever again if this is what they are going to be like.

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.

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.