Fly Me to the Moon (2024) is an American “rom-dram-edy” directed by Greg Berlanti, from a screenplay by Rose Gilroy. The film stars Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Jim Rash, Ray Romano, and Woody Harrelson, among others. During the 1960s Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union, a relationship develops between the NASA director in charge of the Apollo 11 launch (Tatum) and the marketing specialist brought in to fix NASA’s public image and stage a “back-up” fake Moon landing (Johansson).
This was honestly an unexpected hit in my opinion. By the second half, I was truly invested in what NASA was doing and how they ran, ultimately if man would really make it to the moon. Spoiler, they did…maybe?
Although marketed as a rom-com/drama, Fly Me to the Moon touches on some heavy topics I wasn’t expecting. Content warning to viewers as some themes to note are: guilt, PTSD, and identity.
Fly Me to the Moon shines a spotlight on the guilt that leaders feel when something tragic happens to the ones that you lead. We learn that Cole Davis (Tatum) feels immense guilt for the horrific accident that lost the lives of the astronauts of Apollo 1. The film shows us how even one person can be affected by guilt in many ways; whether it be visiting a lost one’s grave on a daily basis to show respect, or through violent outbursts on national television. There is no “right way” to feel guilt, especially in a situation like in the film.
The film also sheds light on identity, and how the past can shape who we are in the future, in both good ways and bad. Kelly Jones (Johansson) has had many names in her life. In fact, she has had to change identities so often, it seems she has forgotten who she truly is.
While this film touches on the heavy themes, we do get a breath of fresh air from the comedy that is placed very well throughout the movie. Fly Me to the Moon wasn’t a laugh fest with jokes every other line by any means, but did boast a healthy amount of quips and humour. Comedy highlights go to the character played by Jim Rash, Lance Vespertine, an eccentric film director who likes things his way and enjoys the occasional can of Tab. His witty remarks had the whole theatre laughing at points and truly eased us out of or into darker scenes.
The chemistry between all of the characters was really well done. Kudos to the actors and crew. The romance felt realistic and wasn’t “cheesy” in any way. The relationships felt believable, whether romantic, platonic, or professional… This cast really put in the work to make this feel real. I only wish that we got to learn more about some of the side characters. Fly Me to the Moon’s Ruby Martin (Anna Garcia) and Don Harper (Noah Robbins) began to form a seemingly-romantic relationship that I would’ve loved to learn more about. Of course, the focus would be on the leads, but I wish some more screen time was spent on some of the others.
I think one of the biggest takeaways from this film is the reminder that the United States will really do anything to make it look like they are the best to the rest of the world. They would really spend half a BILLION American dollars to fake the moon landing, just to be able to say “We were the first on the Moon” and “We beat the Russians”! I guess that’s the American way.
Fly Me to the Moon reminds us that our past does not have to define us. The things we’ve said or done, the people we’ve been, or the lives we’ve lived don’t have to be what’s etched on our tombstones. We get to choose who we are and want to be. The film does a great job reminding us that two conventionally attractive people will fall in love, even if one of them is a scam artist and the other a literal rocket scientist. I may have been surprised at how much I enjoyed this film, but dang, it was a good movie.
You can fly on over to your local movie theatre to see Fly Me to the Moon on July 12th, 2024.
