‘Moonshot’ movie review: Cole Sprouse stars in good-natured, goofy space ride

While not being particularly original, with likeable leads and a sci-fi twist that is not time travel, the rom-com is a cheery way to spend time

Just when you thought romcoms were a dying breed comes the delightful  Moonshot. And it is such a relief to see Cole Sprouse as a jolly doofus after enduring six seasons and 103 episodes of purple prose and angst, courtesy Jughead in  Riverdale.  

Sprouse plays Walt, an assistant barista on a college campus. He dreams of going to Mars but does not have the requisite gazillion dollars to buy the ticket. Even after eccentric billionaire Leon Kovi (Zach Braff) launches the Kovi Student Mars Programme, his applications are rejected 37 times as he does not have the know-how or the skills required.   

Into this sad life, which involves dealing with snarky robot boss, Gary (Peter Woodward), comes Ginny (Emily Rudd), who needs just that little push to take up the Mars relocation. At the same party where Walt meets Ginny, he also meets Sophie (Lana Condor). Sophie’s boyfriend, Calvin (Mason Gooding), is on Mars, working on a hectic project.  

A few weeks later, Walt meets a tearful Sophie at the coffee shop. Sophie is upset that Calvin will be staying longer in Mars, contrary to the two’s well worked-out ‘plan’ for the future. Sophie has the money to buy a ticket to Mars, but has a fear of flying.      

Walt has a cunning plan and convinces Sophie to buy a ticket and sneak him on to the space shuttle. Once on board, it is obvious that Walt’s stowaway plan is not going to work and the two have to pretend to be a couple to avoid discovery. 

There is nothing startlingly different about  Moonshot that we have not seen in a million other romcoms, but it is all so good-natured, that you cannot help but grin along. Condor seems an extension of her Lara Jean character from  To All the Boys... and the little jig she does to quell her anxiety before take-off is charming. Michelle Buteau as Captain Tarter is a bag of jokes.  

While not being particularly original, with likeable leads and a sci-fi twist that is not time travel, backed by acceptable movie logic,  Moonshot is a cheery way to spend time.