In this climate of cinema 2024, original IP has been constantly challenged to find an audience, so I’m happy to come upon films that don’t rely on instant franchise recognition or long-established IP. This new rom-com from director Greg Berlanti (of Love, Simon fame) features Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum in a cast that is set in the era of the American-Soviet space race of the 1960s.
Berlanti readily admits that the first plan for this film was to go direct to streaming on Apple. Still, test audiences reacted favorably to the screenings, and a theatrical distribution deal with Columbia/Sony was worked out. The film hits Philippine cinemas this July 10.
The film's premise is a fictitious retelling of the events leading up to the historic Apollo 11 moon mission, when Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins cemented how the US would come from behind, trump the space race, be the first to put someone on the moon and televise the historic moment.
Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) is the launch commander at NASA and plays it by the book to the letter. Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) is a marketing whiz with a shady past who was hired by Moe (Woody Harrelson), who claims he works directly for the White House. The Kelly assignment is to generate popular interest in the space race and help create continued funding for NASA. With Kelly, the end always justifies the means, so there’s the built-in conflict between Cole and Kelly - in other words, its opposites attract rom-com time!
Playing strong support are Henry (Ray Romano), who works with Cole in the launch operations, and Lance (Jim Rash), an advertising director with an over-inflated ego and is consistently hilarious - go-to of Kelly when she needs a director.
It’s the hush-hush Project Artemis (Artemis is explained as Apollo’s sister) that proverbially thickens the plot and heightens the stakes between Cole and Kelly. I’ll leave you to watch the film and discover what Artemis is about.
There’s witty repartee and gentle but effective humor carrying the first half of the film. The chemistry between Johansson and Tatum works, but not in a Stop the World magnitude. Just right, and that’s fortunate, as some might have questioned if these two are still that popular - or if the pairing made more sense five to seven years ago.
When the narrative shifts tone and goes serious, I wonder if the audience will still go along for the ride. It rights itself via suspense in the last twenty minutes, but by that time, some may be confused by the constant change of tonality.
It’s far easier to see why this was initially created to go straight to streaming, but insofar as the dearth of rom-coms today is concerned, this film fits the bill and offers some viewing pleasure.