Fly Me To The Moon reaches for the stars, falls short

As we have posited many times in this publication, there is a difference between an actor and a movie star.

An actor simply shows up and delivers the lines given to them, but a movie star has a certain charisma and elegance that elevates the material they are assigned.

Scarlett Johansson is a prime example of a movie star who feels like they would be right at home alongside Hepburn, Monroe and Bacall but has somehow found herself in the 21st century.

Scar Jo stars as a marketing expert who has been tasked with selling the idea of the moon landing to a jaded American public while Channing Tatum stars as the man behind the desk at mission control.

The duo have a classical meet cute in a diner before revealing they have to work with each other, where differences raise their heads.

The classic formula of the high-flying gal from the city clashing with the humble and stoic, and flag man put to great effect here.

These cliches existed when Powell and Pressburger used them in I Know Where I’m Going! In 1945, and the formula still works today.

Through a series of twists and turns, the duo must overcome their differences and romantic tension to help fake the moon landing in case the real thing is a bust.

This is the kind of film that would have starred Julia Roberts and George Clooney 25 years ago, and that is fully intended as a compliment.

The set-up is shameless in wanting to evoke the likes of Rock Hudson and Doris Day or a Jack Lemmon-starring Billy Wilder comedy from the pre-Code era and it largely works.

Rose Gilroy, daughter of Rene Russo and Dan Gilroy of Nightcrawler fame, does a nice job of capturing the spirit of the times in a way that feels like it’s cribbing from Mad Men and Forrest Gump.

The film falls apart when it writes itself into a corner by trying to wring dramatic irony out of historical events we know actually happened 50 years ago because we’ve seen countless movies and read so many books about the moon landing itself.

With that said, seeing two great movie stars like Johansson and Tatum evoke the spirit of classic screwball comedies and their chemistry is reason enough to see this film.

The film is a hair above 2 hours, clocking in at 2 hours 10, and there is frankly no reason for the movie to be done in an hour and 40.

Playing an armchair screenwriter is the worst sin a critic can commit in normal circumstances, but it is justified in this case.

The weird stop-start pacing of the film does it no favours, and while Woody Harrelson is a great splash of colour to add to the palette his character is superfluous and could be scrubbed from the film altogether.

Harrelson himself is a fun wildcard to throw into the film and his performance is great, but if you were to remove his character from the film very little would change.

Community star Jim Rash steals the film as the prissy director hired to fake the moon landing, milking every single old joke about pretentious, tyrant directors and putting a new spin on them.

Fly Me To The Moon certainly looks the part, with the aesthetic, music, and style of the space race front and centre. 

Apple goes for quality over quantity with their films and has trusted the likes of Sony (as in the case of this film and Napoleon) and Paramount (Killers Of The Flower Moon) to get their films on the big screen.

With the knowledge that this film will most likely be seen largely by people when it comes to streaming, it is pleasing to report that Fly Me To The Moon actually looks and feels like a real film.

Director Greg Berlanti is a TV veteran with an exhaustive CV ranging from writing jobs on Dawson’s Creek, creating the Arrowverse of superhero shows and overseeing the Netflix hit You, which puts the film in good hands.

Berlanti showed some directorial flourishes in his previous film, the queer-themed 2018 film Love, Simon, and Berlanti displays some nice visual chops no doubt picked up from his days in the TV salt mines.

To give readers a peek behind a curtain, we have settled on a certain formula for reviewing a film.

There are four categories in our playbook: will this film be an awards season contender, is this disposable slop that you can watch on streaming while scrolling Facebook, is this a mid-tier film that used to dominate Xtravision shelves in 2004, or is this a crowd-pleasing popcorn film?

Fly Me To The Moon plants its flag in the third and fourth camps.

There is a certain magic in making a film in both camps, and it’s the kind of film designed with the sole intention of making a family member go “aw, that was lovely.”

Films like these are few and far between these days and should be celebrated for what they are.

Not every film needs life or death stakes or be part of a continuing franchise, sometimes it’s just enough to see the two movie stars sell a premise to you and land the plane in style.