- Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Woody Harrelson
- July 6th 2024
- Greg Berlanti
Scarlett Johansson plays a marketing guru who orchestrates a fake Moon landing as a back-up plan during the 1960s Space Race.
After ditching her superhero costume, Scarlett Johansson is now in her comedy era with Asteroid City and Fly Me to the Moon.
In Greg Berlanti’s romance comedy-drama, she plays successful marketing executive Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson), who is hired by mysterious government agent Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) to help NASA fix its image problem following the fatal Apollo 1 mission.
She must spark public interest in the continued Apollo space programme ahead of its Apollo 11 mission with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins in 1969. Her job puts her in the crosshairs of launch director Cole Davis (Channing Tatum), who has no interest in PR and wants Kelly out of his team’s way.
Considering the success rate of the Apollo missions, Moe tasks Kelly with creating a fake Moon landing as a back-up in case the astronauts fail to make it. Kelly feels unsure about the ethics of this plan, especially after she grows closer to Cole.
Fly Me to the Moon, which blends fictional characters and ideas with real events, would have worked better as a workplace comedy because the romance element isn’t convincing. Johansson and Tatum lacked believable chemistry and the romance felt oddly shoehorned into a narrative that didn’t need that additional layer.
It doesn’t help that Tatum feels all wrong for the part of Cole. He doesn’t look like a stuffy, serious launch director from the 1960s. The role was originally given to Johansson’s collaborator Chris Evans. Evans makes more sense as Cole and we already know he has good chemistry with his longtime Avengers co-star so it’s a shame he had to drop out.
Thankfully, Johansson makes up for a lot of the film’s shortcomings with her charm and pizzazz. Kelly has the gift of the gab and is able to wrap anyone around her little finger. Johansson is charismatic and disarming and perfect for this character.
Her co-star Jim Rash, playing diva director Lance Vespertine, also steals the show, delivering the most laughs out of anyone.
Fly Me to the Moon is a visually gorgeous and lovely film. However, it is tonally confused and too long (2 hours 12 minutes) and could have done with dialling up the comedy.
In cinemas from Thursday 11th July.
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