Fly Me To The Moon

2024 Sony Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length: 2 hr 12min

Comedy ~ Drama ~ Romance

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Ray Romano, Woody Harrelson, Jim Rash and Anna Garcia.

“The whole world will be watching. We can’t afford to lose. We need to be prepared to present an alternate version of the moon landing.”

Scarlett Johansson stars as Kelly Jones, an advertising executive working in Manhattan. The year is 1968, Richard Nixon is President, the Vietnam war consumes the news broadcasts and the US Government and NASA are in a “Space Race” with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union successfully launched it’s Sputnik Satellite into orbit in 1957, being the first country to do so. The United States followed a year later and the race between the two superpowers to be the first in space became a US priority until the Vietnam War took precedent. Kelly is very good at her job and has built a reputation as one of the best advertising executives around. Just having won a major contract with Ford for their Mustang, she is celebrating in an upscale Manhattan Bar when she is approached by……………..

Woody Harrelson AKA Moe Berkus, who works for the President Of The United States. He explains to her that The Government is concerned about the public’s waning support for NASA amidst the Vietnam War. He wants to hire her to run NASA’s new public relations department and get the Apollo Space Mission, and it’s goal of being the first on the moon, back into the public consciousness. He also blackmails her with a folder containing the secrets of her past. She must accept the job and Moe promises that the folder and her past will disappear never to be seen again, or it will be made public if she refuses. Seeing no choice she accepts and Kelly and her assistant (Anna Garcia) fly to Cocoa Beach, Florida to begin their work. After checking into a hotel, Kelly heads to a diner to get a bite to eat and start working on her agenda.

Channing Tatum, who stars as NASA Flight Director Cole Davis, walks in to get a cup of coffee and a meal to go. He notices Kelly sitting at a table and is immediately smitten with her and strikes up a conversation. He leaves after getting his food to go but comes back in to confess that she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen but now is not a good time for him. The next day as Kelly is starting her PR campaign with her assistant at NASA, she enters into a classified area where they are building the Apollo 11 rocket. Cole and his right hand man Henry Smalls (played by Ray Romano) immediately escorts her out and shows her where her new office is in a storage close, and advises her to stay out of their way.

Moe Berkus shows up at Kelly’s Hotel room one night to explain to her that as NASA prepares the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon, they must prepare for any outcome. Since Kelly has come up with the grand idea to televise the moon landing and put a camera on the lunar lander, they must make sure that no matter what, that is what America watches on TV. Moe wants her to secretly stage a real life replica of the Moon landing in an abandoned hanger on NASA property. It must look like the real thing and nobody must know. Kelly reluctantly agrees and brings in her best Director (Jim Rash) Lance Vespertine.

What follows is a hilarious journey and look at the Apollo 11 mission as it races towards launch day. Being replicated in secret on NASA property by Kelly and Moe, as Cole and Henry are pulling the real thing together. A romance has blossomed between Kelly and Cole and the tension is palatable as they try to do their jobs and not upset the other in doing so. In the end they come together to join forces to outsmart Moe who insists on televising the fake landing no matter what. Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson were awesome in this, I loved their chemistry together. Ray Romano is loveable as Cole’s assistant Harry. Jim Rash is goofy but loveable as Lance Vespertine. And you gotta love Woody Harrelson as the very secretive Government man who knows everything about everything.

The movie is based on the true story of the Apollo Space program and the Apollo 11 mission of being the first men on the moon. It is also based on the completely unfounded conspiracy theory that NASA and the Government cooked up the ruse to fake the Lunar landing just to beat the Russians in the space race. I thought it was a great story and a great movie. An excellent Rom-Com Drama well directed and filmed. The Ryan Gosling movie First Man is also a fascinating look at the Apollo program and the Apollo 11 mission, also well worth a watch.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

TWO THUMBS UP!