Fly Me To The Moon didn’t have a serious field workplace run final 12 months, however given it paired Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson, it was high-profile sufficient that lots of critics weighed in earlier than launch. In truth, I believed I had an actual concept of what I’d be stepping into after I lastly watched the romantic film streaming, nevertheless it seems, I had no concept in any respect what I’d signed up for.
Fly Me To The Moon has most of the hallmarks of a standard rom-com. There is a meet-cute at a diner. It has two crucial individuals who don’t see eye-to-eye however finally unite round a typical aim. A little bit little bit of deep character unraveling comes out because the characters get to know each other. Oh and the film has some enjoyable comedic cameos and aspect elements, notably a really humorous scene from Johansson’s husband Colin Jost, but in addition good stints from Jim Rash and Ray Romano.
Nonetheless, the factor that shocked me most about this film is that it’s not particularly a rom-com, or at the very least not sometimes a rom-com. The principle plot of this film, truly, revolves across the 1969 moon touchdown and a simultaneous plot to movie a faux moon touchdown in a top-secret studio on NASA property simply in case issues went awry in house. It’s a wild story and one which was positively value telling on the massive display screen, nevertheless it’s virtually like a rom-com was shoehorned in in order that your complete film could lead on as much as the ending, which concerned the faux moon touchdown conspiracies and a cat that had been hanging about at NASA for weeks.
In precise observe, your bandwidth with this title would possibly range, however at the very least it by no means stops being fascinating because the film progresses.
I Like Channing Tatum Is Increasing His Repertoire, However Scarlett Johansson Does The Heavy Lifting Right here
Tatum had an oft-discussed function as Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine after which two underseen releases hitting the film schedule final 12 months: Blink Twice and Fly Me To The Moon. In each of the latter, he’s enjoying characters we don’t sometimes see him as. He’s a wealthy, wealthy man with a sadistic streak in Blink Twice whereas within the space-oriented film he performs a scientist and boss at NASA who shouldn’t be on the lookout for romance, nevertheless it comes for him anyway.
We’ve seen Channing Tatum in rom-coms similar to Pricey John and The Vow prior to now. I believe folks like The Vow OK, however neither have actually stood up amongst among the finest rom-coms of all time. I hoped Johansson could be the correct associate and he or she shines right here as promoting maven as Kelly Jones, nevertheless it usually seems like she’s doing heavy lifting to make some kind of chemistry work between the 2. Possibly I simply don’t purchase Tatum as a NASA scientist coping with survivor’s guilt (or as an individual residing within the Nineteen Sixties even with that haircut), perhaps I didn’t like the sensation of watching two films mashed into one, however no matter it’s, there’s one thing barely off concerning the ultimate product.
One factor I’ve at all times favored about Tatum is that he loves hopping genres and kinds of roles and he often does effectively inside no matter he’s making an attempt. I actually thought Fly Me To The Moon could be certainly one of my favorites of the 12 months, nevertheless it wasn’t. It’s definitely not a nasty film or a waste of time within the least, and I’d nonetheless suggest it streaming, however there’s one thing about it I can’t fairly put my finger on that retains the film from being a real knockout.
The one factor I’ll say is that I believed I knew precisely what I’d be stepping into with Fly Me to the Moon after I threw it on with my Apple TV+ subscription, and I truly had no concept within the least. It’s not usually a film surprises me, and this one did from begin to end.