{"id":28982,"date":"2024-07-10T23:48:18","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T06:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28982"},"modified":"2024-07-10T23:48:18","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T06:48:18","slug":"fly-me-to-the-moon-is-a-pleasant-voyage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28982","title":{"rendered":"FLY ME TO THE MOON is a Pleasant Voyage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Running Time: 132 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This film from Apple Studios and Sony Pictures opens at\ncinemas on July 12th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has become very clear in the last couple of years that\nthe model for distributing feature films is rapidly changing\u2026 or at least, is\ngetting more and more confusing. High-profile studio titles like Beverly\nHills Cop: Alex F<\/em> are now debuting on streaming sites. The new\nromantic-comedy Fly Me to the Moon<\/em> was also produced with the intention\nof premiering on Apple+. However, test screenings were so strong that the\npicture is now being released at movie theaters (its streaming debut has been\npushed back and is undetermined). So, does the positive advance buzz justify\nits appearance at cinemas?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Set during the Space Race in the late 1960s, the story\nbegins with the US lagging behind the Soviet Union in sending a man to the moon\nand public interest in the project dwindling. A fast-talking, deceitful\nadvertising specialist Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) is approached by\nmysterious government official Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) and manipulated\ninto taking on a project at NASA. Using her marketing expertise, she is told to\ndrum up public and government support for their program. Shortly after arriving,\nKelly butts heads with tightly-wound, stressed launch director Cole Davis\n(Channing Tatum), who doesn\u2019t approve of her methods. Despite their\ndifferences, sparks fly, but their complicated relationship is further tested\nwhen Moe demands that Kelly secretly stage an \u201calternate\u201d Moon landing for\nworldwide audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are some hilarious moments early on as the two central\ncharacters get to know one another and bicker over their predicament. Cole\nprides himself on being truthful and focusing his attention on the mission,\nwhile Kelly is determined to promote and market NASA using any means necessary.\nWhen the launch director insists that his staff and crew not pursue publicity\nendeavors, Kelly\u2019s underhanded methods are funny to witness. Johansson and\nTatum display plenty of onscreen chemistry and it\u2019s a blast to see the\nperformers play off of each other for chuckles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Several supporting characters are also given humorous\nmaterial. In his role, Harrelson manages to combine an intimidating streak with\namusingly pointed observations. Self-centered and extraordinarily difficult\nTV-commercial director Lance Vespertine (Jim Rash), who is called in to help\nstage the moon landing, also makes an impression. A couple of the NASA team\nmembers stand out too, including the sweet-natured Henry Small (Ray Romano),\nwho gets himself unintentionally caught up in an amusing scam or two by the\nadvertising expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 1960s production design and costuming is also vibrant\nand easy on the eyes. This is a very attractive-looking movie that is\nbeautifully lit by director of photography Dariusz Wolski (Prometheus, The\nMartian, Napoleon<\/em>). Eagle-eyed viewers will be amused to see Wolski himself\nappear in the film as the spacey cinematographer hired by Lance Vespertine to\nlight the fake moon landing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There is plenty to like, but the movie isn\u2019t without a few\nproblems. The first hour is extremely entertaining, but as the romance turns\nserious, the launch date approaches and tragic elements about both leads\u2019 past\nare discovered, the pacing suffers. It is revealed Cole was in command of the\nfailed Apollo 1 mission and, as pressure mounts, the tone turns serious and\nexcessively earnest. The film eventually regains its comedic chops during the\nfinale, but this comes after a sluggish 20 minutes or so of oversized emotional\nbeats that feel forced.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, these are relatively minor issues. The picture does\nfalter after the midway point, but is generally charming and, despite its\norigins, does look like a project that was made for the big screen. It doesn\u2019t\nquite reach the stratosphere, but Fly Me to the Moon<\/em> is a pleasant\nvoyage that will entertain rom-com fans and anyone just looking for an amusing\ntime at the movies.   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 132 minutes This film from Apple Studios and Sony Pictures opens at cinemas on July 12th. It has become very clear in the last couple of years that the model for distributing feature films is rapidly changing\u2026 or at least, is getting more and more confusing. High-profile studio titles like Beverly Hills Cop: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[215,1652,4103,4646,4660,7683,7690,10703,14575,16699,17246,17302,17310,17321,17752,18709,18775,24468],"class_list":["post-28982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-215","tag-apple-studios","tag-channing-tatum","tag-columbia-pictures","tag-comedy","tag-florida","tag-fly-me-to-the-moon","tag-jim-rash","tag-nasa","tag-ray-romano","tag-rocket","tag-rom-com","tag-romance","tag-romantic-comedy","tag-scarlett-johansson","tag-sony-pictures","tag-space-race","tag-woody-harrelson"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}