What’s that meme about “the perfect movie doesn’t exist—” followed by a contradictory abrupt cut revealing, well, actually it does? Well, apply that to “Fly Me To The Moon,” the exuberant, tightly-crafted, endlessly charming, and near pitch-perfect space race film. Part comedy, part drama, part romance, and part race-against-the-clock and overcoming obstacles-to-pull-off-an-impossible feat thrill rush, it’s simply terrific, and maybe very unexpectedly so. Yes, this rare breed of movie, a mix of “Apollo 13,” “Mad Men”-era Madison Avenue advertising, and hell, even a little bit of ticking countdown “Oppenheimer” filtered through the champagne sparkle of the most intoxicating rom-com dramedy and you’ve got a shimmering delight that’s immediately engaging and front to back fully dialed in and compelling.
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Plus, movie stars, in what feels like a capital M movie, enchanting, attractive, and dazzling with so much charisma. “Fly Me To The Moon is purposefully light on its feet and enthralling, yet somehow manages to have the gripping pulse of a thriller and even possess soulful notes regarding the leads’ haunted past and still-held-onto traumas.
“Fly Me To The Moon” stars Scarlett Johansson as Kelly Jones, a Madison Avenue advertising exec/marketing specialist, and Channing Tatum as Cole Davis, the NASA director overseeing the upcoming Apollo 11 launch. Their unlikely paths cross when charming but abrasive government agent Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) turns up with a mission and a proposal. The White House has deemed the Apollo 11 mission too big and important to fail. And so Jones is tasked with changing public opinion on the space race (by 1969, with Vietnam in full swing, approval is way down), but also, eventually faking the moon landing as a backup in case the real mission goes awry on live television.
Johansson’s Jones is basically a con artist, so adept at selling things she’s become an expert liar and manipulator through media. Berkus knows her skills will vamp up the image of NASA and the mission. While sparks fly upon their first chance encounter, Tatum’s Cole Davis is the opposite: a former U.S. pilot, ethical but tightly wound, a stress case, and workaholic, given his already difficult task to pull off “get the U.S. onto the movie before the 1970s” as dreamt of by then-President John F. Kennedy in the early ’60s.
Davis was also the launch director of the fated Apollo 1 mission that killed three astronauts and carries much baggage, guilt, and wounds from that botched operation. And so, while clearly attracted to each other physically, the two are spiritually and morally polar opposites and butt heads.
Stylish, buoyantly peppy, and crisp, “Fly Me To The Moon” basically tracks two stories that eventually meld into one, Davis working with his men, scientists, and engineers to get the rocket off the ground (Ray Romano, Donald Elise Watkins, and Noah Robbins among them) and Jones working with her assistant (Anna Garcia) to fix NASA’s public image. However, the two tasks are frequently in conflict, especially as NASA tries to keep things top secret, and Jones wants to invite America into the process and talk to the men behind it all.
Is someone like NASA engineer Henry Smalls (Romano) too awkward for on-camera interviews? No problem, Jones hires better-looking actors to play these roles on TV, faking the entire thing in the process but making the scripted TV appearance play much better in the end. Duplicity like this infuriates the already-stressed Cole, who objects to most of her manipulations but is thwarted by Moe Berkus whenever he tries to fire or diminish her plans.
Jones eventually hires the mercurial but brilliant commercial director Lance Vespertine (Jim Rash) to direct and prepare to fake the moon landing, all of which is kept a massive secret from Davis.
Eventually, Davis starts to realize they’re essentially on the same team and want the same goals—and he becomes deeply impressed when she woes on-the-fence Senators to continue funding NASA— but remains wary of her methods. Jones has fewer complications on the surface, seemingly enamored with Davis but wishing his personality wasn’t a leaden brick.
And it all crescendos into a big, nail-biting, swooning, triumphant moon launch that’s pulled off by the skin of their teeth. Of course, along the way, there are emotional betrayals, secrets of their past unveiled, and myriad complications to both their relationship and moon objective.
But the film is entertaining, always captivating, and delightful at all times, so kudos to all the chefs on this one, including director Greg Berlanti—easily, miles and miles away, the best thing he’s ever made, either in film or TV.
Sharply and tautly written by Rose Gilroy, “Fly Me To The Moon” perfectly captures a bigger story about hopes and dreams but also provides an expertly concurrent personal narrative about letting go of the past and looking to a brighter future. Davis is not only haunted by Apollo 1, but known as one of the best fighter pilots in the U.S. ever, he’s also frustrated a frustrated wannabe astronaut (he was the pick of the litter, but a heart arrythmia knocked him out of contention). And Jones, while bright and shiny on the surface, is constantly trying to outrun all the skeletons in her closet. Hell, it’s even soulful and poignantly moving in all the perfect spots.
Shot by Dariusz Wolski (“Prometheus,” “The Counselor”), the never-miss-a-beat direction is bolstered by his bright, colorful, and inspiring imagery. All the creative collaborators do some stupendous work, especially editor Harry Jierjian; the film’s snap, crackle, and pop rhythm is super dynamic. Yet he’s somehow outdone by the spectacular, Oscar-worthy score by Daniel Pemberton, quickly becoming one of the best composers on the planet (see the fantastic stuff he already did for the ‘Spider-Verse’ films and Danny Boyle’s “Steve Jobs”). Plus, the soundtrack—superb cuts by Etta James, Bobby Womack, Eddie Floyd, Sam Cooke, and the Bee Gees—is aces.
And the casting is tremendous, including how those actors hold all the outstanding notes. Channing Tatum’s Davis is so on edge, and he’s on the precipice of caustic, but he never overdoes it and strikes the perfect balance of a heroic but driven leader who cannot take failure as an option. Scarlett Johannson oozes magnetism and bite-your-bottom-lip persuasiveness, and Jim Rash is so perfect at delivering the comedy as the uppity director.
And the entire supporting cast, Harrelson, Romano, etc., are brilliant in their smaller but no less essential parts. “Fly Me To The Moon” may have simply felt like a romantic comedy set against the high-stakes backdrop of this tense and nerve-wracking impossible mission, but that’s really just selling it too short. It’s high-grade entertainment with stakes, laughs (many of them expertly punctuated in the script and execution), romance, drama, thrills, and more, seemingly a throwback to when movies could deliver so much magic and beaming hope. This one was not on my bingo card, but “Fly Me To The Moon” is exhilarating, lovely, deeply enjoyable, and such a surprising treat. [A-]
“Fly Me To The Moon” opens in theaters July 12 via Apple Original Films and Sony Pictures.