Fly Me to the Moon (2024)

Fly-Me-to-the-Moon-(2024)
Fly Me to the Moon (2024)

Fly Me to the Moon

With its zippy retro rom-com beginning, cynical political satire middle and weighty remorseful drama ending, “Fly Me to the Moon” never knows what it wants to be. The film is a tonal mess, and at two hours and 15 minutes, far too long for its own good. This is a shame because director Greg Berlanti has Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum as his leads both are individually charming, but they have zero chemistry together.

Johansson plays Kelly Jones, a late ’60s ad exec who gets recruited away from a New York agency to sell the space program to the American people. She’s Don Draper in a pink pencil skirt (costume designer Mary Zophres has really outdone herself with this one; the mid-century chic ensembles she’s put together for all these actors are truly stunning). When the shadowy government figure (Woody Harrelson) who approaches her about the gig comments on how useful her beauty must be in her line of work, he’s not wrong. But it’s her ability to read other people that makes her so dangerous.

The joy of Berlanti’s movie written by Rose Gilroy is watching Kelly transform herself into whatever she needs to be in order to get what she wants from one moment to the next. Is she a compulsive liar? Maybe. But she’s very good at her job.

Which is why her alleged romantic connection with Tatum’s launch director Cole Davis doesn’t make any sense beyond “these are both extremely attractive people.” Kelly and Cole meet cute one night in the neon glow of a Cocoa Beach diner; by the next day they’re sharing an awkward moment straight out of “Top Gun” when they realize they’ll have to work together. But Cole isn’t interested in whatever game Kelly thinks she’s playing, he should’ve been an astronaut himself, damn it, and as a brilliant pilot he remains consumed by the tragedy of Apollo 1 even as Apollo 11 looms on the near horizon. He’s kind of a drag.

This kind of screwball romantic comedy requires witty banter. “Fly Me to the Moon” wants the same energy as a Rock Hudson and Doris Day classic that crackling but affectionate conflict. Here, though, Johansson and Tatum often seem to be in different movies. She’s effervescent and game, he’s stoic and guarded for reasons that are never fully explained. Chris Evans was originally supposed to play Cole, which would have been a much better fit at least on paper, never mind that he and Johansson are longtime friends in real life. There’s a lightness here that Tatum can’t seem to tap into, though it’s also not on the page. And later in the film, when Kelly and Cole sit down to reveal their demons to each other, “Fly Me” grinds to a halt for these clunky moments of let me tell you who I really am exposition.

Cole will be particularly upset to learn that part of Kelly’s assignment involves hiring a director and actors to fake the moon landing on a soundstage in case the real one fails. (Yes, this has been a conspiracy theory for decades.) Jim Rash plays up the scenery chewing as Ted Newmeyer an ostentatious but underappreciated filmmaker who finally gets his chance here but can’t tell anyone about it too flamboyantly frustrated even by his own standards. He knows what movie he’s in. Or what movie this could have been.

From here, “Fly Me to the Moon” keeps coming at us with endings multiple ones until it screws with our heads about what might be real or fake or imagined until we don’t know anymore because we’re no longer paying attention anyway because so many things have caught fire amid all this chaos but maybe that is indeed the most fitting metaphor of all considering how many lighters get tossed around during all these haphazardly strung-together scenes. Berlanti’s movie functions much better as an upbeat farce than a meaningful drama, and the last half hour or so feels like it lasts forever at over two hours.

Ray Romano and Anna Garcia are solid supporting players who can only do so much with the thin characters they’re given during these highs and lows. Colin Jost of “Saturday Night Live” who happens to be Johansson’s husband is truly terrible in the briefest of cameos as a senator she’s trying to woo for his support. But this scene also represents the confusion at the heart of “Fly Me to the Moon.” Is this a comedy or a drama? Is it nostalgic or critical? Things keep catching on fire amid all this chaos, and maybe that’s the most fitting metaphor of all.

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