If nothing unexpected happens take me to the moon This may be the first romantic comedy to revolve around a federal funding dispute. One hopes this will be the last time.
Set during the heyday of NASA’s lunar missions, the film follows handsome lunar mission director Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) and Madison Avenue marketing wizard Kelly Jones ( Scarlett Johansson) must team up to sell the Moon’s story to the public and skeptical members of Congress. and, fake moon landingStanley Kubrick style, just in case something goes wrong.
It’s a creative set-up with real potential, and the leading duo provide plenty of movie-star rocket fuel. But a bland script and scattered story don’t live up to that premise. if take me to the moon If it is a space mission, it will be considered a launch failure.
Although the moon landing is now revered as one of the last moments when Americans proved they could do and build great things, the film begins by reminding viewers that in its own time it was viewed very differently – as A wasteful federal program that robs ordinary people of their rights. In other words, this is a classic case of big government folly, or maybe a moon dog.
With the program floundering due to a lack of public support and the threat of Washington divesting, a mysterious White House operative named Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) decides to hire Jones to use modern advertising techniques to increase public awareness of NASA’s mission. cognition.
Jones, we should know, is an advertising superstar, but also a con artist: When we first meet her, she’s pitching a new muscle car marketing plan to a group of middle-aged male auto executives. . Her big idea? highlight seat beltIn the late 1960s, this rule was about to become mandatory, which might make wives feel more comfortable with sports cars. (You always know you’re in for a fun night at the movies when a scene at the beginning of the movie is designed to give you a warm feeling of excitement about federal traffic regulations.)
To prove her point, Jones faked her pregnancy and gave birth to an artificial baby bump. This scene is supposed to show how smart she is—a modern career woman who thinks in ways that men never could in the past—but it mostly shows how stupid this movie is. It’s tendentious and smug, too cutesy by half, and it relies on an unbelievable premise that executives at a national car brand would completely believe Don’t know the impact the security features they installed had on sales forward Supervision requirements are in place.
Even more interesting is the film’s treatment of President Richard Nixon: Early on, Jones’ aide declares that he is an official feminist and could never work for Nixon. But then she did that and the thing was basically abandoned. take me to the moon Can’t decide whether to view Nixon as a villain or provide some support for his role as president who presided over NASA’s first successful manned mission to the moon. A better movie might have captured some nuance or complexity in its depiction, but take me to the moon Content to stay simple and superficial.
An hour later, after Kelly and Cole begin selling the space program to skeptical members of Congress, the film introduces another subplot about a fake moon landing in case the real mission goes awry. The way this storyline is handled is goofy, which contrasts awkwardly with the film’s insistence on, well, the gravity of the moon mission and its repeated nods. Three astronauts die on launch pad due to safety failure. It’s not impossible to mix melancholy with stupidity, but take me to the moon Neither ever took off.
What’s left is an interesting concept and intriguing thread that’s sadly poorly designed from the ground up. Johnson and Tatum are charming enough take me to the moon It didn’t exactly crash and burn. But the fact is, in an age where big-screen romantic comedies are on the wane and the genre has mostly been relegated to smaller streams, it’s enough to make you worry: At least when it comes to rom-coms, maybe Hollywood can’t do big things.
