Review: 'Fly Me to the Moon' Will Launch You into Orbit

This summer blockbuster season isn't having the effect that the multiplexes and theater houses were hoping for; audiences are picking and choosing how they spend their entertainment dollars, especially with most theatrical releases landing on streaming platforms sooner than anyone expects. Fortunately, the romantic comedy is proving again that "date night" is one of the best ways to lure people off of the couch – or, as in the case of the Greg Berlanti-directed "Fly Me to the Moon," proving to be a ticket to the stars!

It's 1969, and the world is in turmoil. The Russians have launched the first satellite into orbit, and war continues brewing in Vietnam. With all eyes on the future, the promise of sending the first men to the moon has everyone wondering if that's where the country should focus its attention. NASA director Cole Davis, played by "Magic Mike" star Channing Tatum, is determined to make the Apollo 11 mission one for the history books. Still, it will take more than Cole's drive and determination to rally America behind the space program.

Enter Kelly Jones, played by Scarlett Johansson, also one of the film's executive producers. Kelly is recruited by a shady government operative named Moe Berkus, impeccably portrayed by Woody Harrelson. Berkus is convinced that what NASA needs is the right amount of public relations to turn the Apollo 11 astronauts into household names. Kelly is a savvy New York City marketing expert with a shady past that Moe is willing to erase if she accepts this mission to inspire the country. With little choice in the matter, Kelly accepts, and the rest is history – or is it?

Berlanti bestows upon the film his affection for old Hollywood romantic comedies that similarly pitted two headstrong individuals against one another, with the result being that they fall in love. Kelly Jones' ruthless marketing skills are about to clash with Cole Davis' duty to the NASA mission and his core values. It helps tremendously that Johansson and Tatum are attractive, and exude a charming amount of chemistry.

There's a nostalgic symmetry to "Fly Me to the Moon" that will resonate with classic movie fans who want to be transported when they go into a theater. Setting the plot against the backdrop of one of the most hopeful touchstones of our American history – the optimism and patriotism around America's 1960s Space Race – invites comparisons to the perils facing our country today, where the climate of divisiveness is so intense there's not much that Americans can unanimously rally around.

The movie hypothesizes on a myth, which many then believed, that the entire moon mission was an elaborate hoax built on a back lot. America in the 1960s needed a win so desperately that some suspected certain lengths were taken to ensure that the Apollo 11 moon landing was successful. Kelly is manipulated by Moe into doing his bidding to come up with just such "alternative" footage in case the real mission fails. Against her better judgement, Kelly hires a commercial director, Lance (played by Jim Rash), to simulate the moon landing right here on earth.

With a story by Bill Kirstein and Keenan Flynn, and a witty screenplay by Rose Gilroy, "Fly Me to the Moon" launches the viewer into a vastness of possibility that we can take home with us once the credits have finished rolling.

"Fly Me to the Moon" opens in theaters Friday, July 12