Scarlett Johansson co-produced this movie as a vehicle for herself, which should automatically mean it’s worth watching. She has largely focused her career on how someone with a body like hers navigates the world, but here, her body is not the center of attention. Instead it’s her mind, specifically her character’s skills at marketing and telling people what they want to hear, put in service to the Apollo space program. More on that choice later, but on the surface this movie is about how the work – any work – not only must be done, but must be seen to be done. It is civic-minded enough to provide a lead romantic comedy part for Channing Tatum, but right now, Fly Me to the Moon is only old glory.
It’s the late sixties and Kelly (Ms. Johansson) is introduced as a Mad Men-esque expert manipulator of people, wiping the floor with chauvinistic advertising clients in a pink maternity suit. The pregnancy is fake, as Kelly is willing to massage the truth for her own purposes, which brings her to the attention of man-in-black Moe (Woody Harrelson). He hires her to do the PR for NASA, as the space race is underfunded and unappreciated in the age of Vietnam, and no one is better at getting people’s attention. So Kelly and her cheerful assistant Ruby (Anna Garcia) take their colorful frocks and move to a motel in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Soon, Kelly has a meet cute in a diner. The man is Cole (Mr. Tatum), the straight arrow in charge of the entire launch program. While he appreciates Kelly as a person (and who wouldn’t), on a professional level Cole doesn’t see the need for public relations. For example, they disagree in whether a camera should be added to the side of the spaceship for a live television broadcast of the landing. It’s too heavy, Cole says, and besides, who would want to watch it?
The main workers are Henry (Ray Romano) as the weary voice of reason, the nerdy Don (Noah Robbins), who is ineptly sweet on Ruby, and Stu (Donald Elise Watkins), who is front and center so we don’t think too much about Hidden Figures, the unpleasant reality of segregation in the American south and its impact on NASA. It’s repeated many times that the entire space program exists thanks to a pledge President Kennedy made, but the emotional importance to the American psyche of keeping that pledge goes without saying. It shouldn’t. As the months pass Cole and Kelly have many meetings with various powerful people. The focus is largely is Kelly’s gift for accents and saying the right things, while Cole’s solid integrity is mostly a hindrance. Gosh, will the righteous man with a stick up his backside learn to relax a little, and will the expert manipulator learn to value the importance of honesty. Who can say?
Eventually, Moe demands Kelly stage a fake moon landing as backup for television in case something goes wrong with the real thing. Not even Cole is allowed to know. For Moe, the voice of power, preventing the world from living “under a communist moon” is more important than the safety of the astronauts. Kelly is blackmailed into organising a top-secret team into doing it, which allows Oscar-winner Jim Rash to have a wonderful time. As the insufferable, melodramatic director named Lance, Mr. Rash single-handedly spanks the movie into life. He is the movie’s only breath of fresh air.
Because Fly Me to the Moon does feel a little stale, and it’s not just because of the plot. Space exploration for the greater good of humanity is a historical relic, a beautifully preposterous folly instead of one of humanity’s most glorious achievements. There are currently astronauts stranded on the space station because the the private enterprises to whom the task has been relegated instead of NASA are not equal to it. That is a horror, but there are so many other larger horrors happening everywhere that nobody has the time to pay attention to it. As the Supreme Court elevates certain people above the law and a convicted felon runs for president, the idea that the American government acts for the greater good is disintegrating before our eyes.
No work of art exists separate to the zeitgeist, but Fly Me to the Moon is hoping its romantic escapism will do the trick. Unfortunately, Rose Gilroy’s fine (if obviously edited) script and Greg Berlanti’s solid directorial work are faded relics of a faded empire. Ms. Johansson could not have known this would be the reception when she selected the project, but she might have thought a little harder about the current political climate. As it is, and romantic comedy or not, this is not the moment.
Fly Me to the Moon is now in limited theaters.
Learn more about the movie, including how to buy tickets, by visiting the website for the title.
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