Tag Archives: scarlett-johansson

Eleanor the Great

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As we have the second film of the 2025 post-Thanksgiving, Snowpocalypse Weekend, there is actually snow on the ground. It has been snowing all morning though it does feel as if it is not as much as was forecast.

Still, nowhere to go this afternoon so I rented Eleanor the Great off Fandango At Home (aka Vudu) starring June Squibb.

After the death of her friend and longtime roommate, 94-year old Eleanor Morgenstein (June Squibb) was lonely and grieving. By fate, she wound up in a support group for Holocaust survivors. Not sure what to do, but craving the human attention, Eleanor, not a Holocaust survivor, began telling the stories of her recently passed roommate, who did survive, as her own. From these tales, she met a bright young journalism student, Nina (Erin Kellyman), who had suffered her own recent loss.

This was the feature directorial debut by Scarlett Johansson, and she did a fine job with a story that placed the delightful June Squibb front and center. I am not sure there is a more impressive actress working today than the nonagenarian. She brought an energy to the film that would not have been there without her.

The story was good, but Squibb elevated it into a much higher level. It was a typical “lies get revealed” type story, but Squibb made this more than just a typical tale. You could feel her passion for the film in every moment she was on screen.

The relationship between Eleanor and Nina was another positive of the movie. They had a bond that you could feel on screen. When Nina discovered that Eleanor was not what she had represented herself as, the pain and betrayal cut deep.

It may have wrapped up too neatly in the end, but it did give us an ending that provided hope for the future of the characters.

3.5 stars

Fly Me to the Moon

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I was not excited to go see this movie. It did not resonate with me with the trailers and any sort of comments that I had heard of it. Then, with it being around two hours and fifteen minutes long, I just was not anxious to see it.

Boy, was I wrong.

I loved this movie. This film, starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, featured a great story of these two characters mixed in with the story of the launch of Apollo 11 and the eventual moon landing.

Scarlett Johansson played Kelly Jones, a marketing master, is brought in by the government, particularly shadowy agent Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson), to help sell the idea of the NASA program to the public. Kelly ran into a conflict at the beginning with Cole Davis, launch director, as she did several things that Cole did not want to happen. As they continued their story, the pair grew closer though a secret from Kelly’s past threatened to tear them apart.

The film included the conspiracy theory that the moon landing was faked, and it blended this in with the real situation that was going on. This use of this legend was really well done and provided some of the romantic comedy’s best comedic moments. (I do not think this was a spoiler since the trailers did included this detail).

I loved the performance of Johansson in this movie. Kelly was strong and intelligent, able to manipulate those around her to get what she was after, and yet had a softness that told you that something tragic had happened in her past. Johansson and Tatum had good chemistry, but there could have been a scene or two more that focused on their relationship. It did seem as if Tatum went from trying to get her fired to being all in with her too quickly.

Woody Harrelson’s character was great too. I enjoyed the sleaziness of his character and how he was able to use his power to convince people to do what he wanted. He was an antagonist that was not exactly an antagonist.

The film was very clever and charming and flew by, making my doubts about the runtime bleed away. Fly Me to the Moon was a lot of fun and I had a blast with it.

4.5 stars