Romantic comedy movies are a tough subgenre to nail down these days in terms of quality storytelling, but Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum’s space-centric 2024 movie,Fly Me to the Moon, deserves a look from rom-com fans. Coincidentally, Johansson’s notable release the year prior also involved elements of space. The actress was part ofWes Anderson’s ensemble cast for Asteroid City, an offbeat dramedy that focused on a group attending a convention in the desert get quarantined after an alien visit. She also voiced Elita-1 in 2024’sTransformers One, which reunited her with fellow MCU actor Chris Hemsworth.
Technically, Johansson’sFly Me to the Moonco-star Channing Tatum is also an MCU actor now after his cameo appearance as Gambit inDeadpool & Wolverine. While that was surely a career highlight for Tatum, especially since he’d been linked to the role for a decade, 2024 also saw the actor star and produceBlink Twice, a thriller that served as Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut. Despite not making a massive splash at the box office,Blink Twicedid well with critics. Still,Fly Me to the Moonis Johansson and Tatum’s 2024 release that deserves another look.
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Because the Space Race spanned 20 years, plenty of movies like Fly Me to the Moon exist that cover the time period in US and Russian history.
ThoughFly Me to the Moonis considered a romantic comedy, it simultaneously serves as a historical drama with the foundation of the story surrounding NASA’s Apollo 11 mission. Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum leadFly Me to the Moon’s castas Kelly Jones, an expert PR executive, and Cole Davis, NASA’s launch director overseeing the upcoming moon-landing mission. To get space exploration back in the minds of the country, Kelly is brought in to transform NASA’s marketing, much to the initial frustration of Cole, who wants his employees and astronauts free from any distractions.
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Of course, Kelly’s expertise and charm slowly begin to chip away at Cole’s hardened demeanor, allowing the movie to lean into rom-com territory. Though the movie is set around Apollo 11 and features portrayals of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins,Fly Me to the Moon’s most interesting aspect involves the challenge for Kelly’s team to secretly film a fake moon landing as a backup planas ordered by the US government. Sure,Fly Me to the Moonincludes some true story details, but it also introduces some absurdly fun concepts involving a pivotal moment in history.
Fly Me to the Moon’s Cole Davis is fictional but loosely inspired by Gene Kranz, the real director of Apollo 11’s launch. Before Channing Tatum joined the movie, Chris Evans was set to star alongside Scarlett Johansson.
The historical elements ofFly Me to the Moonare certainly intriguing, but it’s the character-driven aspects that truly make the movie worth checking out. There’s no debate regarding Johansson and Tatum’s on-screen chemistry. Still, the movie manages to avoid clichés that often plague romantic comedies by turning them into cookie-cutter narratives with low stakes. Instead,Fly Me to the Moonputs a lot on the line, shaping Kelly and Cole’s interwoven journey and twisting it into a unique take on romantic comedies.
