‘Fly Me to the Moon’: Blockbuster-lite Moon-landing Romcom

Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) and Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) go on a date, in "Fly Me to the Moon." (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing)

PG-13 | 2h 12m | Comedy, Romance | July 12, 2024

“Fly Me to the Moon” creates a fun, 1960s nostalgia for the events surrounding the 1969 American moon landing: Floridian orange glow-y sunsets, Scarlet Johannsen looking pretty in orange, NASA astronauts drinking orange Tang and hawking Omega Speedmaster chronograph watches, because those items will soon be going to the moon and outer space, kiddies!

Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson), in "Fly Me to the Moon." (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing)

And there’s Channing Tatum wearing a Jetsons-type yellow turtleneck, and driving a cobalt blue Camaro! Cocoa Beach! Rocket-ships! Crew-cuts! Horn-rimmed glasses, pocket protectors! Low-rent diners with neon signs.

Apollo 11 astronauts at a press conference, in "Fly Me to the Moon." (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing)

It’s exactly the landscape Tom Wolfe described in his bestseller “The Right Stuff,” about how Navy, Air Force, and Marine fighter pilots became the first astronauts of the NASA space program.

Sneaking around in the shadows at the film’s edges, is a jovial and incorrigible Woody Harrelson as a wisecracking (but still dangerous) government agent who reports directly to the president (Richard Nixon, that is). His job is to get all of the abovementioned players to manufacture a little fake moon-landing film—just to have on stand-by—in case the real deal goes sideways.

Madison Avenue Marketing

Kelly Jones (Johansson) is a New York marketing whiz, recruited by one Moe Berkus (Harrelson) around the time of the Apollo 11 moonshot. Her job will be to help rewarm NASA’s moon-mission leftovers and spice them up for the American public’s flagging appetite. Ditto for members of Congress who aren’t feeling the largesse they felt previously, regarding the coffer-size of NASA-earmarked funding.

This was all due to the fact that America had fallen so embarrassingly far behind the Russkies in the Space Race, and American public opinion was shifting its priorities to other matters: Vietnam, civil disorders, inflation, decaying urban infrastructure, and campus unrest. After the big win of Apollo 11, Congress cut the NASA budget, NASA cancelled Apollo missions, and the Kennedy Space Center and its contractors laid off thousands of employees (not all at once). There’s only so much showbiz juice you can wring out of bubble-headed men in balloon-suits bouncing on the moon for a couple of minutes.

But thanks to Kelly, those buzz-cut astronauts are now wearing those cool watches, and every American has come to know that Kool-Aid-usurping Tang is the beverage of choice for space heroes. I remember all that advertising; the astronaut lunchboxes and such. It felt exciting.

When Cole Met Kelly

It’s this marketing campaign that sets the stage for cute Kelly to meet tunnel-vision Cole Davis (Tatum). Cole is a former pilot turned NASA launch director, and the polar opposite of Kelly’s smooth-talking flimflam talent. He’s a straight shooter and very serious about his job responsibilities.

Cole Davis (Channing Tatum, L) and Henry Smalls (Ray Romano), in "Fly Me to the Moon." (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing)

Seeing Kelly for the first time in a diner, he approaches her table:

“Miss, you’re on fire.” “Very original, no, I do not want to stop, drop, and roll with you.” “No, your book is on fire” (she was holding it over a candle flame).

Cole is immediately smitten, but when he finds out what she’s up to—hiring actors to play himself and his not-ready-for-primetime colleagues (along with a cliché-ridden flamboyant film director), and giving faux interviews all in the name of marketing—he’s immediately disgusted. But, of course, this is a romcom, so his disgust won’t last long.

Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) and Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) discuss faking the 1969 moon landing, in "Fly Me to the Moon." (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing)

A Fair Amount of Silliness

We’ve all heard the conspiracy theories—the moon landing was faked. But “Fly Me to the Moon” pulls a clever double-reverse, as in, yes, the moon landing was, in fact, faked, but not how you think.

Apollo 11 astronauts on their final approach to the rocket, in "Fly Me to the Moon." (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing)

The whole affair is light and breezy; Mr. Tatum is the king of light comedy, and Ms. Johansson turns her charm factor up to 11, sashaying about in all that late-'60s fashion, to the point where, as Cole mentioned—she’s on fire. These two, while not exactly electrifying, have a fun romantic chemistry.

Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) and Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) go on a date, in "Fly Me to the Moon." (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing)

The last half of the film is where Moe’s contingency moon-landing presentation—Project Artemis—takes center (sound) stage. At this point, “Fly Me To The Moon” becomes a bit of a bank heist movie, as Cole and Kelly surreptitiously attempt to reroute Moe’s plan. Quite a bit of fun is had due to the presence of an unattended black cat running around, and Cole’s intense phobia and superstitions regarding harbingers of bad luck.

“Fly Me to the Moon” is sort of summer blockbuster-lite, but it is mid-July, and it doesn’t have much competition, so if it’s popcorn fun you’re looking for, you can’t really go wrong with this one.

Promotional poster for "Fly Me to the Moon." (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing)

‘Fly Me to the Moon’ Director: Greg Berlanti Starring: Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Woody Harrelson, Ray Romano, Jim Rash, Anna Garcia MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 2 hours, 12 minutes Release Date: July 12, 2024 Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

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