Fly Me to the Moon

Synopsis: Two NASA employees fall for each other while working on the Apollo 11 mission.

FACT: Prior to 2024, a moon landing had not served as a backdrop for a rom-com. Fly Me to the Moon is set during the 1969 Apollo 11 effort at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Extra points for actual location shooting at nearby Cocoa Beach.

The movie stars Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum. ScarJo heads the marketing effort and Chann is the launch director. They both work for the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), established in 1958.

FACT:  In a 1961 speech, President John F. Kennedy endorsed a mission to land an American on the moon, saying, “We choose to go to the moon, and do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” Interesting…

I mean, just because something is “hard,” should you try and do it? Extinguishing a star would be hard; should we try that? There should be a point, right?

History tells us that, while the human desire to explore sounds like a lofty reason, the real objective was to have a win in the Cold War against the USSR. In 1957, the Soviets had launched into Space the first Earth-orbiting satellite. The Space Race was heating up. No longer would the Cold War be fought only in Korea and Berlin, but on the moon, too!

FACT: On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin walked on the moon, while Michael Collins stayed in orbit. We learned this, if not in school, in the movie Hidden Figures where we saw Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monae doing important math-y stuff for the Apollo 11 mission. Most of the people who contributed to the effort were nerds, like scientists, engineers and super cool fighter pilots turned astronauts. But non-STEM-types were hired to form the communications team. They got to work writing press kits and marketing through product placements with Omega watches, DuPont paints, Del Monte dried fruits and Tang, the orange-flavored drink of the astronauts. IMO, Tang is an insult to the great citrus fruit that is the orange, but you’ve got to take what you can get in outer space.

FACT:  The two leads have middling chemistry, but at least have decent screen presence separately. Chris ‘Captain America’ Evans was originally tapped for the movie, but Magic Mike stepped in after scheduling conflicts.

Scarlett Johannson is Kelly, a marketing director with a sketchy past. Channing Tatum is Cole, the launch director, who is a former fighter pilot. Woody Harrelson is Moe, a government ops guy who alternately charms and threatens, sort of watered-down version of his psycho military guy in War for the Planet of the Apes.

Ray Romano also shows up as Cole’s NASA colleague, a family man and fussbudget who trail after Cole listing every possible mission problem. Like the other NASA employees–about 99%, men*– he wears the uniform of dark slacks, white short-sleeved dress suit and drab tie. But not Cole, he wears short-sleeved pullovers that show off is Magic Mike biceps. His hair is short– I bet he wore his hair like this when he was flying missions in Korea.

Kelly first crosses paths with Cole at a Cocoa Beach diner. She’s just flown down to Florida with her assistant Ruby (Anna Garcia). She’s all dazzling-looking and dropping quick, fine lines in Cole’s direction. He seems a little confused by her glamour. But attracted too. That is until she shows up to work at NASA.

Cole sees her marketing role as not just unnecessary, but somehow sullying the moon mission by selling it. But the thing is, NASA needs the American public behind the mission because they need money from Congress. After all, hospitals and schools need funding too.

Don’t Americans understand how much they will enjoy seeing astronauts bouncing around the moon and planting the American flag there? And the  billions spent will also yield silvery emergency blankets (made from insulation formulated in 1964) and better-preserved frozen foods (Pillsbury was hired to develop quality control procedures) for the whole world’s benefit.

Viewers aren’t meant to question the necessity of the Apollo 11 mission. The movie aims to show us how fun the space race can be, and hopefully, sexy with two movie stars as the love interests.

FACT: Movie goers are amazed that Colin Jost, goofy SNL news guy hailing from Staten Island! is partnered with Scarlett Johannson. It’s fun when Jost appears as one of the US Senators who has to be won over by Cole and Kelly if NASA wants taxpayer funding. Cue a charm offensive by Kelly and All-American Cole.

FACT: Adding a moon landing conspiracy into the mix is a bridge too far. Woody Harrelson shows up in the movie again and tells Kelly that she must produce a fake moon landing in case the real landing is a failure.  After all, Apollo 1 in 1967 was a disaster. Tragically, three astronauts died when a fire swept through the command module during a launch pad rehearsal test. But back to movie hijinx…

Kelly hires Lance (Jim Rash), a finicky commercial director with delusions of grandeur. Jim Dash makes all of his dry, snarky lines funny. Picture his character of the Dean from Community. This is all kept secret from Cole. So, while Kelly is checking out the fake moon dust in a hangar, Cole is doggedly going over each minute Apollo 11 detail.

FACT: In a rom-com, you need to like both characters. Therein lies a problem with Fly Me to the Moon. 

It’s not so much a problem with the acting as it is the writing for the lead characters. ScarJo’s Kelly’s character comes across with a winning personality and willingness to see the best in Cole. But Channing Tatum’s Cole isn’t just by-the-book, he’s self-righteous. Sometimes he smiles at Kelly, but mostly he’s dismissive of and irritated by her work. And when she tries to explain the exigencies of circumstances she’s been in, he doesn’t sympathize at all.

But, look, says the movie, he tends the flower garden beneath the memorial plaque for the Apollo 1 mission astronauts. But he’s not nice to Kelly as a colleague or love interest. For some reason, she’s fine with it. One character describes him as “the best fighter pilot” he’s ever seen, and Kelly gets misty-eyed. Sure. A line from his character that shows some humility and understanding would’ve gone a long way. I mean, a woman in 1969, would be expecting more than 1950’s conventions. Time for Cole to get with the times.

FACT: After the Apollo 11 fake moon landing, the tens of thousands of people involved in the conspiracy are executed to keep it secret. KIDDING! The landing was successful! And now, history repeats itself. There are people who want to establish colonies on Mars. But instead of the people being from NASA, they are billionaires who want to escape from our over-heating planet.

FACT: We need fresh ideas for rom-coms. I did like venturing back to the Space Race, even if the love interests didn’t quite connect. Maybe someplace else unusual? Say, attraction and minor impediments to love on a potato farm? But not on a ginormous agro-business, pesticide-doused field where the poor potatoes are all destined to be french fries. The love interests could meet at a community garden full of organically-grown heritage potatoes. Now that would be romantic.

• In 1983, NASA astronaut Sally Ride (also a physicist) was the first American woman in space. Valentina Tereshkova, a USSR cosmonaut, was the first woman in space (1963).

Movie Loon’s Movie Review Shortcut:

Grade:  C+

Cut to the Chase: Either the movie should’ve put more effort into developing the romance, or done a comedy about a moon landing conspiracy.

Humor Highlight:  Jim Rash as the director of a fake moon landing with some good sight gags involving a black cat.