“Fly Me to the Moon” (2024) is directed by Greg Berlanti and stars Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Woody Harrelson and Ray Romano. The film is about a butting-head romance between marketing executive Kelly Jones (Johansson) and NASA official Cole Davis (Tatum), who is preparing for the Apollo 11 moon landing. Meanwhile, a U.S. government agent (Harrelson) tasks Jones with staging a back-up fake moon landing.
Overall, “Fly Me to the Moon” is a decent experience. The acting is splendid, with performances by Tatum and Johansson carrying the film from beginning to end. Their characters’ romance is surprisingly endearing, and the duo has excellent chemistry with one another. By the end of the film, the audience is happy the two have come to understand and respect each other despite their differences.
Conversely, Romano’s role as Henry Smalls may be ironically small, but it does not stop him from delivering a good performance. The same goes for someone like Harrelson, who plays Moe Berkus. Despite Harrelson being at a stage in his career where he could easily retire from acting, he still rings in a solid performance as Moe.
The film succeeds at the ticking clock element of NASA rushing to build a spacecraft that will successfully land on the surface of the moon. Prior to the events of the Apollo 11 landing, Davis was assigned with sending a spacecraft with three astronauts on a separate mission. However, the mission failed and resulted in the death of all three astronauts. This burden lies on Davis’ heart throughout the movie until he finally sees NASA construct a spacecraft capable of getting to the moon and returning to Earth safely.
The film has a good sense of humor as well. Johansson was allowed a lot of range with Jones to be witty and sassy while Jim Rash, who plays a director assigned with filming the fake moon landing, has a lot of these similar comedic moments.
The set design and music suit the movie well. The audience really gets a deep dive into the world of 1960s America. The vehicles, clothing, hair and makeup are all done with precision and care for capturing the time period. The soundtrack for the film, composed by various different artists ranging from Sam Cooke to Clarence Carter, offers a refreshing sound that does not rely on more popular songs from the ‘60s.
The film’s biggest weakness is it does warrant a second viewing because it is not memorable or powerful. A good portion of the film’s plots, such as Jones’ character arc, feel familiar to audiences as the themes have been portrayed countless times.
At the beginning of the film, Jones is someone who has been a fraud most of her life. By the end of the film, she learns her life of crime has caught up to her, but opts to change it for the better after meeting Davis.
“Fly Me to the Moon” is not an essential film for your 2024 watchlist, but it does provide an enjoyable enough time that will leave the audience feeling comfortable spending money on the movie. If this film interests you, it can be streamed on Apple TV+.
Rating: 3/5
