Fly Me to the Moon is a solid film, like a flight in which you fear some turbulence, but in the end, the pilot handles it safely, yet not quite expertly. The movie was good enough, especially considering the other strange agents out in theaters right now.
I’ll get to the main problem right away; dialogue. I’ve made a natural choice to hang with people who provide equal competitors in snappy dialogue or witty repartee. You’d think with three screenwriters there’d be an excellent chance one would be scintillating. Perhaps it’s inexperience, or the most clever had the least power (which can happen with blowhard alphas).
The movie had a few good lines, most of which came from the handsome mouth of Woody Harrelson, but how sad that Ray Romano’s charm was tamped down and even Channing Tatum was reduced somewhat to be 99% Clark Kent (but a gorgeous one, don’t get me wrong) and 1% Superman.
Now the positives:
well written plot (so the writers were excellent in devising an intricate narrative).
gorgeous cinematography by Dariusz Wolski so much so that several times I thought wow, that is a gorgeous shot, from rocket launches to sunsets.
sensuous costuming by Mary Zophres, though Channing and Scarlet could probably wear burlap bags and look fantastic.
Two minor characters stood out to me as well: Jim Rash as the diva director and Donald Elise Watkins as the earnest engineer forced to adjust a camera on the Apollo minutes before take off.
Totally worth seeing and if you’re not spoiled by creative, funny people, you might enjoy Fly Me to the Moon to a greater degree. For me, a solid landing, but a far from perfect flight.
