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Fly Me to the Moon
Trailer: Apple Original Films

Fly Me to the Moon
Directed by Greg Berlanti
Rated PG-13
Landed 12 July 2024
#FlyMeToTheMoon

Scarlett Johansson totally sells a big idea and Fly Me to the Moon as a whole in this semi-romantic comedy that’s so much more.

The Promise of Ketchup

This is high-concept storytelling at its finest.

She’s a marketing genius from New York City. He’s a steadfast, stoic pilot who’s flown 52 war-time missions. She’s the type of hustler who could sell ice to eskimos; she fakes a pregnant belly bump and, if her cover hadn’t been blown, she would’ve sold three Ford executives on a new campaign making their Mustang muscle car appealing to housewives and stay-at-home moms. He was the launch director for a failed mission and he’s still coping with the deadly tragedy.

She’s Kelly Jones (Johansson). He’s Cole Davis (Channing Tatum). They meet cute, at a diner in Cape Canaveral. And they’re living in a chaotic world.

There are tensions with Russia. Controversial war efforts in far-flung parts of the world are dividing the country. Limited resources have hard-working people feeling the pinch. There’s a man in the Oval Office some people deeply despise.

No. It’s not 2024. It’s 1969 and America is still reeling from the calamitous events of 1968. It’s a country in need of a feel-good story. It’s a country in need of a success all Americans can feel they’re a part of.

That all sets the stage for a pretty crazy historical-fiction storytelling experience that manages to put a mirror up to modern times and through the looking glass see the not-so-halcyon days of the past through a fresh lens. Back then, 1984 held the promise of "no more nukes" and equal rights for all. Those are all still works in progress.

Capricorn Two

Yes, part of the story revolves around faking the Apollo 11 moon landing to ensure the US can publicly broadcast the event and rub Russia’s nose in it regardless of what actually happens out there in space. But it’s only part of the story.

The bigger story is in marketing. Storytelling. Lying.

Well, Kelly draws the line at "lying." She prefers to think of it as "changing the way people think."

And her mission, handed down by a suitably comedic yet imposing cloak-and-dagger FBI agent, Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson), is to build a new public affairs department and make NASA popular, getting the public (and the politicians) to support Americans in space after the devastating loss of Apollo 1. In her mind, Kelly interprets that as making the Apollo 11 crew bigger than the Beatles.

With that, bring on the commercialism of space. Tang drinks. Omega watches. Hasselblad cameras. Peter Pan peanut butter. Fruit of the Loom underwear.

But, alas, love almost gets in the way as Kelly and Cole have on-and-off flirtatious dealings.

As things unfold, Moe ups the ante. He wants Kelly to call in some of her Hollywood connections and fake the moon landing for a guaranteed success on television.

If she succeeds, Moe’s prepared to clear out the file the FBI’s been keeping on her. She’d be able to write a whole new story for herself.

Every step of the way, Johansson crushes it with aplomb. This is certainly one of her best roles and performances. And there’s a nice, credible chemistry between Johansson and Tatum that keeps everything tethered to an all-in mindset that makes this whole smorgasbord of ideas work so well.

Sea of Tranquility

Oddly enough, this movie that’s billed as a romantic comedy has a kinship with The Fall Guy, the recent big-screen romantic-action-comedy that didn’t attract audiences the way it deserved. Both movies offer a multi-threaded narrative structure and solid humor, along with a healthy dose of heart for the characters and some snappy dialogue. And both use the romantic element as the nucleus around which all those storylines are wrapped.

In this case, there’s the romance, of course, but also themes around patriotism and American ingenuity that – rather like Top Gun: Maverick – confirm it is actually okay (even cool) to be proud of America and of being an American. The tapestry is enriched with vintage footage of journalism greats Walter Cronkite and Richard Threlkeld (reporting from Vietnam) as well as other elements of the time.

On the one hand, the comedy goes a little madcap toward the end, as a running joke involving a black cat finally hits its punchline. On the other hand, there are some nice character dynamics that lead to thoughtful lines of dialogue, such as Cole countering Kelly’s sad life story with his own and noting, "sad stories make us want to change the world, not just survive it."

And, as with any story embedded in a true-life historical event, it’s fine picking out the facts from the fiction. (Yes, Gus Grissom really did hang a lemon, but there’s a slightly different story behind the reality.)

It’s all about the storytelling. And there even seems to be quite a story to tell about the trio of screenwriters, as well. Fun fact: screenwriter Rose Gilroy has movie words in her blood. She’s the daughter of Rene Russo and screenwriter Dan Gilroy; she’s the niece of screenwriter Tony Gilroy. For her and her co-writers, Keenan Flynn and Bill Kirstein, this is their first feature film. But all three have diverse experiences in "the business." It’s cool. They know how movies work and now they’ve written a top-notch comedy-drama. It’s the kind of moviegoing experience the movie business desperately needs in this see-saw summer of 2024.

As Fly Me to the Moon makes a graceful landing, there’s even a blink-and-miss-it tease of a potential sequel. It probably won’t happen, but legitimate narrative possibilities are certainly there.

• Originally published at MovieHabit.com.