We're currently living in a world where truth and lies feel basically one in the same. A solid argument can be made for the new rom-com-drama "Fly Me to the Moon", starring Scarlett Johannson and Channing Tatum, being somewhat relevant and timely in that regard. It centers on events occurring in the late 1960's, but enough parallels between what happened then and what Americans are experiencing now are clearly established.
Johannson plays a crafty marketing executive who's been hired by a government official (Woody Harrelson) to restore the public image of NASA. After their previous disastrous attempt to land man on the moon, the NASA director (Tatum) in charge of the next launch, aka Apollo 11, wants everything to run smoothly. When he first meets the marketing executive, it's just a casual run-in at a local diner. Upon discovering her new position at NASA, he begins to be skeptical of her actions.
You see, due to the staff at NASA being uncomfortable with public interviews, she stages interviews with the press and look-alike actors of people working at NASA. Naturally, he's baffled at the thought process behind this and wants to remove such disruption to their work. It's only once her approach to marketing convinces local politicians to further fund their work that he ultimately lets down his guard and gives into his attraction towards her.
The challenge from here becomes whether or not these two will stay a happy couple considering two more pressing factors. 1) The director being troubled by the guilt of his past failure with the prior launch attempt. 2) The government official wanting assurance in the form of a fake "successful landing on the moon". A film director, a stage, and a set all in secret to insure public interest isn't tarnished.
Considering the nature of rom-coms and how deception is usually resolved in films within this genre, you'd think that the rest of the story would be spelled out in such an uninteresting and routine manner. But among the reasons I've decided to recommend this movie overall is that it does play with the formula a bit in a way that is affectionate to all involved.
Johannson is clearly having fun in her role. You can definitely pick up on her character's confidence in how things will pan out. She does exert agency in how her situations resolve, even when she knows there's going to be trouble in store for her. After all, how many women are willing to take the risk of faking a pregnancy just to land the accounts they want in the marketing world? Hardly any I would say, especially now.
I'm not sure if Tatum himself understands everything about literal rocket science. However, on the basis of his work, I do at least buy that he's looking out for all of the employees under his wing. Honesty is a characteristic everyone within his staff shares, and any threat or manipulation going on he's on top of. He may not be convincing as a scientist, but his leadership qualities I bought. So half of Tatum's performance works at least.
While most of the story is formulaic, the charm of the actors and the welcome variation on tired tropes helps "Fly Me to the Moon" lift off the ground. In this day and age, it would be easy to make Woody Harrelson a complete antagonist or for this film's director to try and convince us that the Moon landing was truly fake. Thankfully, this film doesn't abide to either temptation and shows off the wisdom of our protagonists in carrying out their own backup plan: the real landing on the moon.
As I've hinted at, "Fly Me to the Moon" plows through many familiar storybeats within this genre. The conflicts of interest, not getting along at first, and then working together seamlessly. The lie one character keeps that you know they're going to tell anyways, only to get blowback for it. Without spoiling anything, there was at least some form of experimentation integrated within otherwise conventional material. So the film feels fresher in at least some small ways which helps much more than you might expect.
Maybe the original music by Daniel Pemberton is too good for this kind of film. While it's well done in its own right, I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel out of place, especially in the romantic sections. Some of the supporting cast members have their moments to shine, namely Jim Rash as the theatrical director hired for the "fake moon landing". He enjoys some of the film's sassiest lines regarding his duties and concerns.
A running gag involving a black cat sees an amusing payoff by the film's climax. This is coming from a new cat owner by the way, whose cat is a tuxedo. Don't think I'm not aware about the clichéd mindset regarding black cats and the bad luck they're supposed to bring. I appreciate any spin on a mindset when I see it.
Don't expect to learn much as far as NASA and rocket science are concerned. Outside of an occasional tidbit now and then, this is primarily focused on the chemistry of our two leads more than anything else. And on that front, "Fly Me to the Moon" does its part in providing a light and fluffy offering to indulge in. Maybe it isn't a must-see in theaters, but on streaming, I can easily see this being a smooth flight.
Final Verdict: 7/10
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