Fly Me To The Moon is a weird film to me. It’s a film that takes what is a clear conspiracy theory and then wraps it up in a cute period romantic comedy. I find some of the ideas it’s using for a story dangerous, but I couldn’t help but really enjoy this fun little film. Directed by Greg Berlanti and with a screenplay by Rose Gilroy, Fly Me To The Moon stars Scarlett Johansson as Kelly Jones, an Ad exec who could sell water to a whale is brought in to help NASA sell the mission to the Moon to the US people as their excitement had waned because of the Vietnam war. This brings her into conflict with the launch director, Cole Davis, played by Magic Mike himself, Channing Tatum. The person who hires her is a mysterious Government agent who goes by Moe Berkus, played by Woody Harrelson, who might give you some flashback to that White House Plumbers show that was on HBO (or Max, I can’t remember).
The film starts off with ScarJo’s Kelly doing a killer Mad Woman (ad person) sell on an automobile company to get an ad contract. From this short scene, you see that this woman is excellent at connecting with people and knowing what they want to hear to get them into something. Her life is upended once Berkus appears and makes her an offer she can’t refuse. Once there, we have the meet-cute between Kelly Jones and Cole Davis at a diner in Florida. The two have decent chemistry, and you believe these two attractive blondes are attracted to each other. Then they find out they have to work together with Cole, who doesn’t like salespeople type personalities and how rigid he is with this project of getting the astronauts launched to the Moon. Channing’s Cole is partnered with his older best friend and colleague Henry Smalls (Ray Romano), who feels like a protective older brother following his exceptional younger brother’s lead. Romano brings a lot of warmth to the film.
Anna Garcia plays Kelly’s assistant, Ruby Martin, who’s very loyal to Kelly but also tries to keep her from going too far with her talent for stretching the truth in her ad plans. She has some fun scenes, as Ruby clearly wants some great dating options on the NASA base. Donald Elise Watkins and Noah Robbins play two NASA scientists who feel like Cole’s sidekicks have some good bits in the film. I really liked Watkins, but it is interesting to see a Black person in this role, and it’s no big deal is kind of weird. Especially after Hidden Figures or just knowing everything going in late 60s. Berkus ends up deciding and forcing Kelly to film a fake version of the landing in case it fails so that the US will look like they beat the Soviets no matter what. Berkus then decides to only show the fake version, regardless of whether they get there or not. This hurts Cole and really affects their burgeoning romance as this act goes against his beliefs, and the sacrifices everyone has made to see this happen are meaningless in his eyes. So, while the film is very light, some solid themes and performances carry this picture throughout its runtime.
I guess my main issue with this film is that it’s a TV movie. The direction is good, and the lighting is ok, but there is no real scale to many of the shots throughout the film. It’s a bit flat as well, but it counters the fact that everything is easily visible. This movie can be easily watched on any type of screen you can imagine. You won’t have any trouble making anything out or being confused. So, while it’s not that impressive on the movie theater screen, it will play fine on where most of the audience will see it. Also the costuming in this film is excellent. The fashion is dead on and also fits every actor perfectly. One last thing: Jim Lash plays a director named Lance Vespertine, and he’s too over the top for me, and he’s not that enjoyable. Fly Me To The Moon is an overall good Romantic Comedy intertwined with history. I don’t know if playing with the conspiracy was the best choice, but I can’t say that it isn’t a good setup for what ended up being a very entertaining movie.
Score: B
