Here is a movie I did not know I needed and am now completely obsessed with—Fly Me to the Moon. Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum co-star in a space race-set romantic comedy about the moon mission and a fake moon landing. First of all, excellent casting. ScarJo has always looked like she was transported here directly from 1962, and when Channing Tatum does a period piece, he almost always makes it count (see also: Hail, Caesar!, The Hateful Eight, Foxcatcher, Public Enemies; do not see: The Eagle). So, this is a screen pair practically made to co-star in a period piece. (Though they both appeared in Hail, Caesar!, they did not have any scenes together.)
But also, Fly Me to the Moon just looks cute. ScarJo plays a marketing whiz brought in by NASA to spiff up their image as the public tires of the increasingly costly—in tax dollars and human lives—space program which has, so far, yielded no wins in the “space race” with the Soviet Union. (In fact, what no one in America likes to admit is that we actually did lose the space race, as the USSR got satellites into orbit and successfully launched a human into space first. NASA’s real marketing wizardry was convincing everyone that the “space race” was very specifically the race to the moon.) Channing Tatum plays a NASA official. They have very cute, sparky energy in this trailer.
Simply because we live in the stupidest AND darkest timeline, I am legit worried this will fuel the fire of “Stanley Kubrick faked the moon landing” conspiracies, but the Kubrick joke at the end of the trailer is GREAT. I like this very much, mostly for ScarJo and CTates, but also a little bit because it reminds me of Down With Love, a tragically underappreciated rom-com starring Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger which perfectly captures the style and tone of a Rock Hudson/Doris Day rom-com. Unfortunately, Down With Love came out in a deeply cynical time that had no interest in a modern appreciation of past “cheesy” rom-coms. But not so now! Times are less cynical, now we embrace the cheese. Not that Fly Me to the Moon looks cheesy—it doesn’t—but if it should have some fromage, it won’t be a handicap like it was for Down With Love.
Although, I have to say it’s amazing this movie is called Fly Me to the Moon and the trailer DOESN’T use the Sinatra song. I can’t decide if that’s points deducted or awarded. This is, ultimately, a commercial. Seems weird to advertise a movie about a marketing maven and miss the most obvious marketing opportunity!
