Ad-Exec Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) is hired by the US government to reignite the public's interest in NASA, and their battle to beat the Soviets to the moon. Her attempts to market the space race cause her to bump heads with Launch Director, Cole Davis (Channing Tatum). But her successes please those in Washington so much they give her a slightly bigger task; fake the Apollo 11 moon landing... or at least film a fake landing just in case the real one fails.
Fly Me To The Moon is a movie of two halves. On the one hand it's a quirky rom-com about an Ad-Exec working for NASA, and on the other it's a kind of history/conspiracy drama about filming a fake moon landing. Unsurprisingly, the results are rather inconsistent. As the movie jumps between the two narratives it becomes painfully clear that the two halves just don't marry up - certainly when it comes to the movie's tone. In fact, it's like the ideas for two very different movies have been forced together. There may be two good movies here, but together they just don't work.
Johansson easily makes Kelly's journey quite fun - her shenanigans are pretty amusing throughout, and you can't help but admire her courage and tenacity - whereas Cole is such a one-note character there's nothing Tatum can really do with him. There are even times when it feels like he's back playing his character from 21 Jump Street - the clueless leader of a team of nerds. All of which completely undermines the romance between the two leads, to the point it becomes irrelevant. Kelly and Cole's relationship has no major bearing on the story, and it's hard to invest in when at least one of the characters is so paper thin. And yet, Ray Romano - who does play an interesting character, but gets far too little screen time - does share an enjoyable, even endearing relationship with Tatum's Cole.
As for the moon landing, fake or otherwise, it has some funny moments, but is completely devoid of tension or intrigue. Woody Harrelson does get a few laughs as his government man, 'Moe' shifts between likeably cheeky and the movie's lame excuse for a villain, and Jim Rash is a fabulous scene-stealer as Lance, the diva director responsible for recreating Tranquillity Base down here on Earth - he's probably the movie's greatest strength. Unfortunately, their big finale lacks punch because we all know how things turned out back in 1969. Now if the movie had gone down the alternate history route - For All Mankind meets Capricorn One meets Wag the Dog - that could have been interesting, and it would work either as a comedy or a drama. But that is simply not the case here. Where Fly Me To The Moon thinks it's putting you on the edge of your seat, much like the world was on 20th July 1969, at most you're mildly amused by Mischief.
A mildly amusing rom-com surrounding the Apollo 11 moon landing. The romance part falls flat, much like some of the characters, and while it will make you laugh here and there, it won’t exactly set your hair on fire.
4/10
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