The Film Buffa Reviews: ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ thrives off star chemistry and a moving script

Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson are perfectly cast as two cogs in the mad machine that was Apollo 11.

What do a former pilot-turned-NASA launch director and a grifter-turned-marketing specialist have in common? They could inadvertently help save (or dupe) the world… while bickering, flirting, and falling in love possibly. Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) and Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) meet in a restaurant the day before they’re thrown together to make the American public fall in love with the space program again. He tells her she’s the greatest thing since sliced bread (I’m paraphrasing), and she blushes as if it’ll be the last time their eyes meet… until the following afternoon.

Greg Berlanti’s Fly Me to the Moon takes place near the end of 1969, when the country was locked in a world-domination grudge match with Russia, an arms race that included a sprint to the moon. Who could reach it first? In order to do that, Davis and his team of engineers needed a lift in the funding and creative department, and they got a pure rocket boost in Johansson’s Kelly.

Kelly may not be all who she claims to be, but her knack for making something better and sexier to the public eye is indomitable. She can also rock two different kinds of Louisiana accents, bring a room full of men to their knees emotionally and handle the most egotistical yet unknown directors (the hilarious Jim Rash). It’s the moon landing mission that brings on a sense of humility from her. Davis is the metal that can’t stop being pulled in by the magnet, even if she spins lie after lie.

Tatum and Johansson have an instant chemistry that makes the film easy on the eyes. He’s always been able to locate the rhythm that a movie needs and match it up, creating an all-in ensemble feel from his co-stars. He can do a lot with just an expression, and can handle the rat-a-tat-tat speed of the snappy screenplay. Mark this as the rare occasion where three different writers-Keenan Flynn, Rose Gilroy and Bill Kirstein-churn out a good script that suits the stars.

Johansson spins a lot of webs out of Kelly’s mischievous and unpredictable yet good-hearted endeavors. From her first scene selling a muscle car that is family friendly to a room full of swinging dicks to the way she can bat her eyes like a ninja at Tatum. It’s the ability to mix comedy into a fast-talking role that adds to the dramatic arc of the story that she excels at. Johansson has to be one of the most versatile actresses that Hollywood has to offer.

Tatum hasn’t been this good since Logan Lucky, and that includes the very good 2020 feature, Dog. He also knows how to unlock the humor in a sorta-true, sorta-not story about waking up a sleeping dog in the space program.

Special nod to Berlanti for injecting the film with a lot of heart. I wasn’t surprised by how good Johansson and Tatum were. I wasn’t surprised by how witty and light the jokes were. It’s the film being so moving that hit me sideways. The opening credits, and subsequent clips, feature real news footage and imagery. The bulk of the story isn’t spent on the romance between Cole and Kelly, but the renaissance of NASA before the 60s died and how this moment in time was so vital to our present day.

When the final launch commences and the rockets’ red glare burrows several feet in the air, emotion swept over me. I was overwhelmed, and unharmed by how this movie could climb up into my feeling and start cutting onions. There’s a moment where the coffee rattles across the desks of engineers and eyeglasses clatter up and down as the launch ensues. Those early moments are the most dangerous, so we’re all stuck, along with the characters, in the sheer thrill of the moment.

Shoutout to Daniel Pemberton’s score for helping break into the vault. Out of the supporting cast, Ray Romano fares the best. He has a relatable angst and weariness that’s always on point.

A subplot involving a reenactment of the landing being filmed just in case things went sideways is powered by Woody Harrelson’s government black hat. The actor makes the dish work, adding little touches like the agent’s prevalence for sliced lemons and scotch. A little dance right before the end credits may have been a nice nod to Frank Sinatra, whose version of the song never gets played.

Who can forget the cursed black cat walking around NASA for the entire film, and the thrilling sequence the animal creates during the climax of the film. Whether or not the movie was ever shot or which version we saw, Berlanti, his writers and the actors do a great job of building the suspense. You’ll laugh, become excited, and possibly cry a little.

A movie can travel far if the two main stars have chemistry, and it can produce comedy and drama cohesively. Fly Me to the Moon succeeds on all counts. Take the family to see it this weekend.