Fly Me to the Moon Movie Review

Fly Me to the Moon (2024)

Rent Fly Me to the Moon on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Keenan Flynn & Bill Kirstein (story), Rose Gilroy (screenplay)
Directed by: Greg Berlanti
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Woody Harrelson, Ray Romano, Jim Rash
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
Set during the Apollo 11 moon landing mission, Kelly Jones is tasked with creating a false moon landing in case the mission fails.

Verdict
The moon landing is so long ago, it's almost difficult to fathom. The bones of this story are rooted in fact; how sci-fiction was woven into ads at the time to sell the idea of the moon mission to the country. Despite several predictable story beats it's a fun movie that shows what NASA and a fair bit of marketing were able to accomplish. I wish this didn't default to the two characters at odds starting a romance as it's such an overused trope, but the way this also weaves in the conspiracy of the fake moon landing manages to overcome the story missteps.
Watch It.

Review
This opens with President John Kennedy urging America to reach the moon. That's followed by an over the top comedic introduction to Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) smartly finding a hydrogen leak that the NASA team couldn't before the tank explodes and sends him flying across the room. He gets up and walks it off.

NASA is headed to the moon, but they have an image problem. That leads to the hiring of Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson), a marketing guru that is willing to stretch the truth to succeed. Not only that, she's a woman facing the misogyny of the 60s. Our introduction to her is when she pretends to be pregnant while pitching a new campaign to Ford for the Mustang. She does pitch a great idea.

Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum play Kelly Jones, Cole Davis

Of course Cole doesn't see the point of public relations nor why Kelly was hired. He doesn't want any marketing ore press, refusing to even do interviews, but NASA needs an image overhaul. Cole and Kelly are completely at odds. The tension is forced. We've seen this in so many movies. We know they  need each other, and you can tell from the start they're going to have a romance. As they learn about each other the walls come down. Kelly discovers Cole's background. That makes her and the audience sympathetic.

Kelly has a knack for describing everything as just a bit better than it is. That's helpful as she woos politicians and makes marketing deals.

Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson play Cole Davis, Kelly Jones

Concerned the Apollo mission may fail, the government commissions Kelly to stage and film a fake moon landing. The American public would be devastated and NASA wouldn't be able to endure a failure. I love this explanation for the conspiracy theories about the fake moon landing. This posits it as a backup plan just in case that ultimately wasn't needed. While the government wants to broadcast the fake footage either way due to having control, Kelly develops second thoughts.

Kelly and Cole team up to broadcast the real footage and fool the government agent into thinking they're broadcasting the fake footage. The filming takes a hilarious turn as one calamitous turn after another befalls the fake film.

This follows several predictable plot points. The romance for one as well as Kelly revealing her past to Cole before they team up to not broadcast the fake footage. It's so boring and overused. I do love the twist that initially we don't know if the real or fake moon landing footage is being broadcast. The fake moon landing conspiracy has endured, and I love that this provides an explanation for it.