Fly Me to the Moon [4/10]

Set at the atmospherically staged Cape Canaveral NASA space station in the lead-up to Armstrong’s epochal 1969 moon walk, Fly Me to the Moon is a rom-com based on the conceit that NASA hires a super publicist (Scarlett Johanssen in top form) who then aids and frustrates, equally, the launch director’s tense countdown job. A devious White House manipulation adds drama to the rom-com tussle. All of this bodes well for this jaunty movie, and there is much to savor in the viewing, but two aspects bring the film back to earth (so to speak). As seems to happen with many American films, the music is clumsy and harks back to a bygone-and-best-forgotten style. More important, Channing Tatum in the key male role is perfectly miscast, unable to portray either the abundant humor in many scenes or any serious emotion. Fly Me to the Moon might while away a couple of hours but it will soon be forgotten.