Fly Me to the Moon

An easygoing movie with surprisingly flipped main characters. Those who expected Channing Tatum to be all fun and games and to see him dancing on the Cape Ceneveral to wild beats will be disappointed. He plays a surprisingly restrained and disciplined section leader, while Scarlett Johansson, as a jaded marketing consultant, is usually in great spirits. Fly Me to the Moon is set in an interesting time. A time when there is a growing theory on the internet that the US never actually landed on the moon. The film plays with that theme gracefully. It makes good arguments, but it also makes solid rebuttals. The finale is a bit of a comedy flick with a black cat, but still watchable. The craftsmanship is great, the period footage is solid. (09/03/2024)

I'm a bit squeamish about space movies showing/appearing to show astronauts boarding a rocket at the last minute, or that there's still a lot that can be accomplished just before the countdown begins (to avoid spoilers, I won't write more), and I don't think these things need to be even in a romantic comedy. But Take Me to the Moon is also the kind of film that doesn't take itself entirely seriously and that you'll be happy to forgive a lot, though not everything. Like Channing Tatum, who didn't quite fit the role. The film hinges on Scarlett Johansson, and if she wasn't convincing, all further efforts would have been in vain. Fortunately, she gives a great comedic performance. The script is funny, the period atmosphere supported by Daniel Pemberton's music is magically nostalgic, the whole thing has the flavour and aroma of romantic comedies of times past, when the leading couple would have been played by Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. So if you say the hackneyed "they don't make movies like that anymore" about Take Me to the Moon, it'll be true this time. (07/19/2024)

An enjoyable romantic comedy set in the attractive world of NASA in its glory days. While it does go nicely at times, it often drops the ball and Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson don't have the right chemistry. The ousted PR ad exec is a carbon copy of Mad Men's Don Draper, including the fake resume, which is fine, but the relationship with the resort manager is weird and stilted. The comedic elements work but there aren't enough of them. It's too long. Woody Harrelson is great as always. (08/23/2024)

The 1950s and 60s were marked by the cosmic Cold War between the US and the USSR, and Greg Berlanti's film takes us back to one of the greatest milestones in our modern history, when Neil Armstrong took "a small step for man, but a great leap for mankind". B ut was it really so!? Take Me to the Moon follows both the preparations for that big moment and the planning of the biggest con of the century (if not the millennium). Personally, I expected the film to ride a more humorous wave given the cast  featuring Channing Tatum, Scarlet Johansson and Woody Harrelson. The comedic level didn't really appeal to me (the character of the eccentric director was a disaster), but the dramatic one worked quite in places (e.g. the background of the character of Kelly Jones). P.S. Beware of the black cat! (08/01/2024)