Review: Fly Me to the Moon – All the world’s a stage

Directed by Greg Berlanti
Starring Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Ray Ramano, Woody Harrelson

6.5/10

For a historical film, this sure has a lot of liberties with the facts. And yet Fly Me to the Moon is very much designed to be a fluffy piece of work, an unserious comedy-drama that uses its historical event to play with its conspiracy theory concept.

Leading up to the Apollo 11 space mission of landing man on the moon, NASA launch director Cole (Channing Tatum) is trying to get the operation going as smoothly as possible, despite his superior Moe (Woody Harrelson) pressuring him to get both more funding and a better public image for NASA, particularly after the tragedy of the failed Apollo 1 mission that killed three astronauts.

Con-artist Kelly (Scarlett Johansson) is enlisted as a marketing specialist to tackle these issues with NASA, utilising all her tricks to give this important institution more credibility. But with the launch date in sight, a nervous Moe orders her to concoct her most elaborate trick of all—stage a fake version of the moon landing to broadcast in case the real one goes belly-up.

As you can tell from the juxtaposition of the incredible truth and the ridiculous non-truth, this is a tonally unsure film, delving into emotional drama one second and slapstick comedy the next. It hardly has anything solidified about it, with its themes of manufactured reality and America’s determined place as the true powerhouse of the world taking a backseat to the witticism and shenanigans of NASA HQ. It makes the whole technological achievement feel like a farce.

Quite a lot of what occurs in this mission, from the tragic Apollo 1 failure to the successful Apollo 11 landmark, was already covered on the big screen somewhat recently back in 2018 with First Man, which was a far more serious, grandiose drama that put you in the experience of this historic flight. Fly Me to the Moon is a real soufflé of a film in comparison, seeming like such a flimsy reiteration of that monumental film.

But Fly Me to the Moon achieves something where First Man failed, and its lack of seriousness does add to some levity, whether comedic or inspiring. It at least gives this film a bit of blood pulsing through its veins, as opposed to First Man’s lifeless and cold cadaver. Fly Me to the Moon still has its show of spectacle, not only due to some decent visual effects but also its rousing musical score and tenderness with its lead characters.

Although it comes across as a bit unmemorable and unspectacular, this film is still a curiosity, using one of the more well-known conspiracy theories out there to fuel this Hollywood story. It’s an intriguing creative choice, and in the hands of a director with more comedic chops who could bring out more of the comedy from this able cast, it could’ve gone down as a cult hit.

DAVID MORGAN-BROWN