Blending comedy, drama and a touch of historical fiction, director Greg Berlanti (Love, Simon and the showrunner of the CW’s Arrow-verse) sends us skyward with Fly Me to the Moon, a handsome, stylish and often quite funny work that uses the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing as the backdrop and antics, political intrigue, and a love story between two of the most appealing actors working today.
In the wake of several disastrous technical issues at NASA—one of which led to the death of three astronauts on the launch pad—public support and government funding for the space agency is waning. Launch director Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) bears a great deal of the responsibility for keeping faith in the program high, especially since the Russian push to be the first into space is leading many to believe that a cosmonaut will be the first man on the moon. Cole is also against putting himself, any of the astronauts, or members of the tech team in front of cameras, believing it’s a waste of time and energy. When the White House deems that a mission to make an American the first person on the moon is one that cannot fail, CIA operative Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) hires advertising guru Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) to take control of NASA’s marketing, getting the astronauts and the program sponsorship deals and tying the nation’s faith in the moon landing to being a true patriot.
Cole and Kelly are often at odds when it comes to priorities and putting his people on camera. At one point, she even hires actors to play the NASA scientists doing interviews when Cole refuses to let his people take part, including one pretending to be him, which he does not approve of. But eventually, the two find common ground in terms of publicity, and a mutual respect in the other’s expertise slowly evolves into a simmering romance. It’s clear that each is hiding something about their past that we know will come out eventually, but with both are working toward the common goal of keeping NASA funded and the mission on target for something that must happen before the 1960s wrap up (making the late President Kennedy’s promise a reality).
But the government gets nervous that something might go wrong during a televised moon landing, so Moe reappears in Kelly’s life and demands that she stage a top-secret fake moon landing on a soundstage to correspond to the live audio of the real event. She hires her go-to, albeit problematic, commercial director, Lance Vespertine (Jim Rash), to handle the task. When Cole finds out, he feels betrayed, but the two manage to work together in the hopes of sabotaging the fake landing without the CIA finding out.
The supporting cast, including Ray Romano as Cole’s right-hand man and Anna Garcia as Kelly’s faithful assistant, only adds to the energy, comedy, and warmth of Fly Me to the Moon, which has charm to spare but also an intelligence to its storytelling that walks the line between believable and slightly ridiculous. Screenwriter Rose Gilroy (working from a story by Keenan Flynn and Bill Kirstein) has given these gifted actors something to dig their teeth into and carve out something that plays to their strengths, beyond just being attractive. Tatum plays Cole as anything but smooth; he’s mission focused and doesn’t suffer fools. While Johansson’s Kelly is quick on her feet, she's not hesitant to stretch the truth to achieve her goals, and more attuned to human behavior than anyone else in the room. In addition, director Berlanti’s history with special effects projects serves him well as far as re-creating NASA circa the late 1960s, and it adds an authenticity to the entire work. The romance is sweet, but far from the focus of the movie, and that perfectly struck balance between the main story and everything else is what makes Fly Me to the Moon soar effortlessly to a perfect landing.
The film is now playing in theaters.
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