Fly Me to the Moon

Review by Mark Woodring

Well, I’ll be honest: movies that look like romantic comedies aren’t normally in my viewing wheelhouse, although I have been known to enjoy the occasional offering in the genre.

When Fly Me to the Moon popped up, the overwhelming look of it was a wacky, advertising-world based genre entry.

But I do love the space program, so maybe, just maybe…

**NOTE: You can read the rest of Mark’s review below, then catch Ryan’s review HERE. Click the links below to listen or watch as they discuss the movie in more detail, as well Remember, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**

Fly Me To the Moon - Review
Fly Me To the Moon (Apple)

 

132 Minutes, Rated PG-13
Written by Keenan Flynn, Rose Gilroy, and Bill Kirstein
Directed by Greg Berlanti

Synopsis:

Marketing maven Kelly Jones wreaks havoc on launch director Cole Davis’s already difficult task. When the White House deems the mission too important to fail, the countdown truly begins.

 

So, in those heady, early days of space flight, when NASA was trying desperately to fulfill the promise of President Kennedy, public interest begins to wane, especially after the tragedy of Apollo 1. Governmental support is also flagging, as the war in Vietnam escalates and the perception of “wasting money” on space is costing them the support of their constituents.

Enter “Moe Berkus,” a shadowy figure who assures us in an opening voice-over that this is the true story of Apollo 11…

[Tangent Incoming]

Let’s not even talk about the whole “this is how it really happened… sort of” schtick Hollywood has got going on right now. It’s insulting to the audience and to history — and those who made it — itself.

Not a fan.

[End Tangent]

“Moe” approaches Kelly Jones, a successful advertising agent on Madison Avenue (with a mysterious history we learn through the movie) to reinvigorate public interest in the program and hopefully drive more government support, as well.

After an accidental, genre-required meet-cute, Kelly runs into Cole Davis, Flight Director for Apollo 11 at NASA and informs him of her job.

Cole is 100% in the tank for NASA, having been a highly decorated pilot, but who had been denied an astronaut spot due to a previously undiagnosed heart condition, and is understandably put-off by the injection of things as crass as advertising for something as important as the moon landing.

As Kelly gets interest (and money) flowing back to the program, “Moe” approaches her again with the task of creating a “back-up” for the actual landing: in this case, he’s talking about filming a fake landing in case the actual mission fails. It is more important to beat the Soviets than it is to actually land on the moon.

Okay, up till now, this has been pretty standard stuff. All of Kelly’s advertising and PR efforts are things that NASA actually did, from Omega watches to Tang, to cereal… all of it.

Now we’re into the conspiracy stuff, though, and the film can’t seem to decide if it wants to play it strictly for laughs or if they want it to be mostly serious.

So, I’m conflicted. I have, and always have had, the utmost respect for NASA and the men and women who have done so much in that organization, and here, when seen through Cole’s eyes, we see that dedication, but when seen from Kelly’s POV, it feels like all those people and their dedication to the mission is a joke, or something to be made light of and exploited for her task.

The footage of actual launches and some real audio is a nice touch, as is the production design, which feels more like the Mad-Men version of the 1960s than the actual thing, but which works for the film.

This makes it hard for me to really decide how to “rate” this one. One the one hand, it’s a perfectly serviceable rom-com, with decent chemistry between Scarlett Johannson’s Kelly and Channing Tatum’s Cole: not great, but decent.

On the other hand, it’s handling of the space program just rubs me, and maybe it’s just me, the wrong way, so the rest of it just doesn’t seem that appealing.

I suppose I’ll just have to tell you that, if you like the previews, you’ll probably enjoy the movie, as this is an increasingly rare incidence of the trailer not misrepresenting the film.

If you, like me, aren’t really a fan of rom-coms, then you can skip this one, as it’s not likely to change your mind about the genre.

Fly Me to the Moon is in theaters this Friday, July 12, and stars Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Woody Harrelson, Ray Romano, Jim Rash, Colin Jost, and Anna Garcia.

And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.

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