Fly Me to the Moon (2024)
The romantic comedy genre was on life
support but received a renewed lease on life with December 2023's surprise hit Anyone
But You. The new Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum space-race romance Fly
Me to the Moon hopes to keep the genre's momentum going, and it's a mostly
pleasant outing at the movies.
Tatum plays Cole Davis, a leader in
NASA's race to get to the moon before the Soviets. It's 1969 and morale is low.
Due to a fatal accident that killed three astronauts, plus domestic turmoil and
the Vietnam War, popular and government support for space exploration is
waning. So a shady government operative (Woody Harrelson) recruits marketing
whiz Kelly Jones (Johansson) to launch a PR blitz to drum up support for the program.
This includes being prepared to film a staged moon landing if the real
astronauts don't succeed or their camera equipment fails during the mission.
It's a romantic comedy, so of course
Kelly and Cole butt heads at first but they clearly have a chemistry together
and like each other. Romantic comedies depend heavily on whether or not you
like the two leads and are rooting for them to end up together. Johansson and
Tatum pass that test here. Jim Rash also gets a lot of laughs in a supporting
role as the diva director Kelly hires to film the staged version.
At 132 minutes, the film runs a little
long for a romantic comedy and the pacing does sag a bit at times but not
enough to derail the film. It's a fun break for anyone looking to escape New
Orleans' oppressive summer heat.
