FLY ME TO THE MOON

(director: Greg Berlanti; screenwriters: Rose Gilroy, story by Keenan Flynn & Bill Kirstein; cinematographer: Dariusz Wolski; editor: Harry Jierjian; music: Daniel Pemberton; cast: Scarlett Johansson (Kelly Jones), Channing Tatum (Cole Davis), Jim Rash (Lance Vespertine), Anna Garcia (Ruby Martin), Donald Elise Watkins (Stu Bryce), Noah Robbins (Don Harper), Colin Woodell (Buzz Aldrin), Christian Zuber (Michael Collins), Nick Dillenburg (Neil Armstrong), Ray Romano (Henry Smalls), Woody Harrelson (Moe Berkus); Runtime: 132; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Jonathan Lia, Scarlett Johansson, Keenan Flynn, Sarah Schechter; Columbia Pictures; 2024)

“It’s overlong, too cynical and over-plotted.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

The regular TV working director Greg Berlanti (“Love, Simon”/”Life as We Know it”) helms this misguided rom-com recreation pic on the successful 1969 Apollo 11 landing on the moon. It’s based on the unsatisfactory story by Keenan Flynn & Bill Kirstein, and is scripted by Rose Gilroy.

Cole Davies (Channing Tatum) is the straight-shooter NASA launch director in charge of getting Apollo 11 to the moon despite the program being underfunded, as the WH considers it a priority to beat the Russians to the moon. This comes after the ill-fated Apollo 1 mission of just two years earlier.

Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) is a charismatic marketing exec brought in from Madison Avenue to shake things up, who sells the moon landing to Congress with a willingness to lie to them.

Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) is a shadowy CIA figure in Nixon’s WH, who forces Kelly to stage on TV a fake moon landing that Cole is unaware of. Moe does so in case the mission fails (a plot point that brings out an untenable argument for a conspiracy theory).

While this is happening, Tatum and Johansson begin an ill-advised workplace affair.

The optimism of the Space Age is contrasted with the pessimism over the ongoing Vietnam War.

What the pic does well (which is not much) is capture the details of the period.

But it’s overlong, too cynical and over-plotted. It lands as a forgettable rom-com that never gets off the ground to answer if the Americans won the space race.

REVIEWED ON 7/13/2024  GRADE: C

dennisschwartzreviews.com