By Mark Fields
Space Race Era Romantic Comedy Modestly Entertaining
Fly Me to the Moon is a cinematic anachronism, not because it’s a romantic comedy set during the 1960s space race but just because it’s a romantic comedy in the first place, a once-ubiquitous genre that has largely fallen out of Hollywood’s favor. The movie, directed by Greg Berlanti, is a loving homage to that quaint time of crew-cut men and women in print dresses, all striving under the Florida sun to put the first men (and yes, of course, it’s only men) on the Moon before the pesky Russians.
Channing Tatum plays Cole Davis, a lantern-jawed former test pilot now tasked as the NASA launch director for Apollo 11. To his peevish chagrin, Davis becomes saddled with a breezy, albeit manipulative, New York advertising specialist with a shady past, Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson), who has been tasked by the White House to make the space program more appealing after numerous setbacks. The government’s political interests are represented by mysterious operative Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson at his folksy, menacing best). Of course, the two lead’s differing agendas will eventually lead to a star-crossed romance.
Johansson delights as Kelly, a role with more depth and interest than Tatum’s somewhat stolid company man. Of course, she is also a far better actor than the limited Mr. Tatum, who spends much of the movie bouncing between glowers and goofy lovesick grins. Harrelson charms in a part that we have seen him play numerous times equally well. Ray Romano and Anna Garcia bring some substance and appeal to the lead’s sidekicks. A shout-out to Jim Rash for finding a small measure of real humor in his clichéd role as a temperamental director.
The screenplay by Keenan Flynn, Bill Kirstein and Rose Gilroy, plays like a script that has been written by a committee with lurches in logic and shifts in tone that make it challenging for the audience to find a dependable rhythm. Berlanti keeps the action moving but does little to overcome the threadbare tropes of movie rom-coms. Any film fan can call out the plot points here well before they happen.
The sets, costumes, and soundtrack create more entertainment for the audience than the central plot. Fly Me to the Moon does a terrific job of evoking ‘60s Space Coast with nostalgia (and a bit of historic perspective). Berlanti integrates period news footage into his story, and actually manages to create dramatic tension with events whose outcomes are well-known. And I must admit it’s nice to see and hear Walter Cronkite again, a little treat for viewers…of a certain age.
Fly Me to the Moon manages to overcome the paint-by-numbers creakiness of its rom-com plot to provide some modest entertainment for a hot summer night. The movie never manages to soar, but it does lightly float.
