Fly Me To The Moon Review: Scarlett Johansson And Channing Tatum Fly High In A Stylish, Charming Date-Night Movie

Whenever joyless grumps like myself end up holding readers captive so we can drone on about "the kinds of movies they don't make anymore," well, sometimes the right movie comes rolling around at just the right time, like a godsend from the heavens itself. "Fly Me to the Moon" might as well encapsulate everything certain movie fans feel nostalgic for these days, wrapped in one irresistible package. A pair of bona fide, charismatic, capital-letter Movie Stars anchoring a throwback romantic comedy that centers on arguably the most celebrated accomplishment in American history, the Apollo 11 Moon landing? Say less!

Director Greg Berlanti (the producer and writer most well-known for spearheading DC's stable of superhero shows on the CW Network) might not appear the most obvious choice to bring this premise to life with a self-assured sense of flair and a snappy rhythm befitting its '60s setting, but here's one book you shouldn't judge by its cover ... or, more accurately, by the author's biography on the back cover. What Berlanti and first-time feature screenwriter Rose Gilroy (Keenan Flynn and Bill Kirstein receive "Story by" credits) have crafted here is a breezy, witty, and somewhat flighty romp that seems like a promise mostly fulfilled. For a singularly brief moment before this summer blockbuster season officially kicks into gear, savvy moviegoers can count on at least one more original, adult-minded picture to march to its own beat — one that comes with the added thematic bonus of exploring how Hollywood sells high-concept stories to mainstream audiences.

While it overstays its welcome to a noticeable degree and struggles to live up to its lofty ambitions, "Fly Me to the Moon" flies high on the strength of its pitch-perfect assemblage of stars and character actors, Berlanti's quietly confident direction, and a refreshing knack for nailing its most emotional moments. Those looking for a satisfying date-night movie delivering laughs and heart in equal measure, look no further. Right when we needed it most, this old-school dramedy is a well-timed reminder of our own love affair with the movies.

Is it too early to call 2024 the year of the rom-com comeback? Movies like "Anyone But You" (which, to be fair, is from 2023), "The Fall Guy," "The Idea of You," and others all helped pave the runway, but "Fly Me to the Moon" just might have used this as a launching pad to reach even greater heights. After an opening credits sequence (which in and of itself has become a lost art lately) sets the stage for the space race that would dominate the majority of the 1950s and 1960s, we meet Channing Tatum's NASA director Cole Davis at an early, character-defining moment: While testing for the upcoming Apollo launch, an unexpected leak of an odorless, colorless, and highly flammable gas sends technicians scurrying for cover. Everyone except Cole, that is, who improvises an outdated method of finding the faulty piece of equipment so the crew can get back to work ... until a much larger fireball proves there is such a thing as being too married to one's work. Luckily, fate has precisely the wrong person in mind to balance out our doggedly intrepid, rigid, and awfully buttoned-down wannabe astronaut.

Holding up the other half of this rom-com with deceptive ease is Scarlett Johansson as Kelly Jones, an unmistakably Don Draper-like advertising guru/con-woman with a checkered past of her own and an established history of resorting to underhanded means in order to successfully sell her marks on a pitch. While Cole's simple, honest worldview can be clearly read from miles away — from orbit, even — Kelly is his exact opposite. Ruthless, clever, and intuitive to a fault, her introductory scene similarly establishes everything we need to know about this wildcard. After an early scheme goes awry, she finds herself recruited by Woody Harrelson's shady government official Moe Berkus to help an underfunded and understaffed NASA "sell the moon" to an increasingly disinterested public and penny-pinching political benefactors alike. Her inevitable meet cute with Cole is the first of many swoon-worthy moments of sparks flying (in every sense of the phrase), artfully setting the tone for a shared arc that tempers its predictability with a sizzling chemistry between both stars.

That said, "Fly Me to the Moon" can't quite sustain a seamless transition between the historical drama unfolding as its backdrop and the love story at its heart — one that's complicated when business mixes with pleasure. As they find themselves at odds over how best to keep NASA's Apollo program running and relevant, the straight-laced, no-nonsense Cole bristles against Kelly's shameless (but effective) strategy of ad campaigns, photoshoots, and Tang tie-ins. In an ironic twist, it takes a full hour for this marketing-conscious movie to actually get to its big marketing hook: Kelly's secret (and largely fictional) mission to fake the Moon landing, Kubrick-style, as a backup plan. From there, this middle act can't fully mine this backstabbing betrayal for all the drama it's worth, instead coasting on its many other pleasures.

Seemingly every aspect of "Fly Me to the Moon" feels designed to emphasize that it truly takes an army to pull off the impossible — not just to land mankind on the Moon, but in terms of giving the film a leg up in its own space race of sorts against a surfeit of generic, interchangeable rom-coms drowning this current streaming era. (The Apple Originals logo that opens the film might be as disorienting as NASA's "vomit comet," but the streamer's agreement with Sony Pictures has thankfully allowed for a full theatrical release so audiences can soak it in on the big screen.)

Beyond Berlanti and Gilroy's essential contributions, the filmmaking fundamentals constantly on display deserve a spotlight all to themselves. For example, in a neat instance of costuming and set design directly informing character (props go to production designer Shane Valentino and costume designer Mary Zophres), the more fashion-conscious viewers among us will definitely want to keep an eye on Cole and Kelly's shifting yellow/blue/red color scheme throughout the film, which turns up the heat on the emotional temperature between the two star-crossed lovers. Meanwhile, Harry Jierjian's snappy editing works in perfect concert with Dariusz Wolski's eye for crafting several indelible images with his Golden Era-influenced cinematography; the frequent montages and crosscutting transitions never seem gimmicky, instead adding a welcome boost of energy, momentum, and even a handful of hilarious sight gags on the few occasions the pacing threatens to sag. Even composer Daniel Pemberton's instrumental score becomes the film's best possible wingman, knowing precisely when to retreat into the background or, alternately, surge to the forefront for maximum impact.

But it's ultimately the cast filling out the margins that elevates the proceedings. Ray Romano as grizzled NASA colleague Henry Smalls provides an added touch of heart, channeling the very best of his role in "The Big Sick." Jim Rash's scene-stealing turn as disgruntled director Lance Vespertine comes across like a dare to one-up the actor's flamboyant performance as Dean Pelton in "Community" (it is, in a word, delightful), while Harrelson's fedora-wearing antagonist is basically sleaze personified; the all-too-brief moment both characters cross paths will leave viewers begging for more. Make no mistake, however: Tatum and Johansson are the stars of the show, oftentimes conveying with a mere look what entire monologues couldn't have accomplished. These are the two engines propelling the movie into the stratosphere, taking what could've been a disposable, forgettable effort and transforming it into an experience that'll have you floating on air out of the theater ... likely as you hum a very apt Frank Sinatra tune to yourself.

/Film Rating: 7 out of 10

"Fly Me To The Moon" hits theaters July 12, 2024.