Running out of time and money to fulfill President John F. Kennedy’s promise to beat the Soviets and land a man on the moon before the end of the decade, Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) sends Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson), an ad executive in New York City, down to Florida to reingratiate the space program to the public.  She works closely with Cole Davis (Channing Tatum), a commander who bears the guilt of the failed Apollo I mission and slowly warms up to her not-so-transparent tactics.  Behind his back, however, Moe has also asked Kelly to stage a fake moon landing that would be broadcast on television to mask any chance of mission failure and under strict orders that Cole is not to know. 

Greg Berlanti directs Fly Me to the Moon from a script written by Rose Gilroy based on the self-proclaimed mostly true story as compiled by Keenan Flynn and Bill Kirstein.  Distributed through Sony and destined for Apple TV, the 132-minute film is charming and sweet; a great way for a family to escape the summer heat.  Receiving a limited release over the Fourth of July holiday weekend ahead of its wider opening later in the month, the film is upfront that this is not a straight biopic as it peddles what was once considered one of the more wilder conspiracies people could believe before people traded in their tin foil hats for their red caps, but Berlanti, as well as he juggles all of these plots and characters, begins to grow tired as the film drones on and loses the sharper edge which this type of store requires. 

While not a typical two-hander, the film is not quite an ensemble piece, either, but its focus is most clearly on the push/pull, will they/won’t they tension generated between Johansson and Tatum.  While both are well cast in their roles, the chemistry does not pop as much as a film heavily operating in the vein of romantic comedy would require.  In fact, the scenes where they are coming together and sharing those more intimate moments are the weight that drags this film down and makes it feel like an impossibly long endeavor.  It is in these moments that we realize just how much more fun we were having with the wider cast – Cole’s right-hand man Henry Smalls (Ray Romano), bumbling space nerds Stu (Donald Elise Watkins) and Don (Noah Robbins), and Kelly’s assistant, Ruby (Anna Garcia) – because those are the people that the script allowed to lean in and play without the burden of such a wide and heavy plot.  Their antics might have seemed goofy at the time, and to be sure they are quite goofy, but they were having fun and we notice when their energy is absent from the scene.  Johnson and Tatum fit well into the world of the film, but their relationship is a bridge too far and their interactions are often based in bickering, at least for much of the the first two acts. While some element of game recognizing game between these two ideologically opposed characters is to be accepted, the film’s clear motivations to be a romcom undermine everything that is widely enjoyable about it. 

Outside of the relationship elements, though, Johansson excels in the role eager to be dressed in the bold styles and colors of the time and add a splash of color to the drab lab coats and grey and white machinery that fills the hangar space; though it should be noted the Tatum is also decked out in color block sweaters to help keep our eyes and attention on him, as well.  Her character, though, is often talked about in a deeper sense than we ever really get to see her embody because of the slight nature of the script.  Moe is always holding her past over her head, offering to make it go away, and sure, late in the third act she is allowed to monologue about her hidden identities, but the sob story is really just that, a story.  Other than her involvement in advertising and how she likens it to the legal scams she helped to run as a kid with her mother, Kelly spend the film really just playing from the same bag of tricks over and over again.  The script seldom builds on itself, despite its runtime and its that exact monotonous belaborment that holds the characters and therefore the cast back. 

Tatum fares much worse than his costar, and while he handles the role well enough, Berlanti seems confused about how best to utilize him. He is stuck playing a bit of a straight man in a too-grounded world for the jokes to land, and while the film does not completely punch down at the idea of a buff guy like Tatum having a softer, kinder side, it does not shy at the chance to jeer at him when he does show emotion.  Overall, the tone of the film remains light and playful enough that this does not seem outwardly vicious, but the format wears thin rather quickly.  His backstory is far more affecting than Kelly’s and it also is more developed which allows Tatum to tap into his more dramatic chops and it is surprisingly where the actor excels the most.  He is really just let down the most by a script that is so unsure of what it wants from him. 

While the central pair leaves something to be desired, Fly Me to the Moon is still an enjoyable experience because of those ancillary characters.  They do not have wide arcs to travel, but they are not treated like Looney Tunes characters, either, who are only allowed to hit the same note over and over again.  Moreso than Harrelson, Romano brings a sense of gravitas to the film as the elder statement of the cast that is otherwise full of newer, bright-eyed, and energetic talent.  The real charmers of the film, though, are Watkins’ Stu and Robbins’ Don as the green scientists on the team.  Their camaraderie is nothing short of delightful and they really help to bridge Kelly’s world over to Cole’s, plot-wise through an underdeveloped romance between Ruby and Don, but even more just through the bringing together of the serious and playful tones.  Truly, all the romantic plots in the film feel thin which is unfortunate, but there is enough else going on to keep us happy.  The one piece that does not seem to fit in at any level, though, is Lance Vespertine (Jim Rash), the commercial director brought in from New York to help orchestrate the fake landing.  Heavily queer-coded in all the worst ways which is surprising given the anachronistic humor, Rash is doing his best Stanley Tucci circa The Devil Wears Prada (2006) imitation. It is an impossible role to thrive in, so the fault does not lie on Rash’s shoulders that he crumbles.  Still, it is a real shame how the script handles Lance, especially in the early parts of the third act while he briefly holds the reins and it not allowed to grow or show us a new side of the character.  It is understandable to want a new flair and personality to upset the balance that was achieved in the second act, but it is very bluntly deployed and Lance remains a looming dark mark on an otherwise pleasant film. 

Fly Me to the Moon comes at a really wild time through no real fault or intention of the filmmakers, but just as one of those little coincidences to look back on.  At a time when the country is already incredibly divided heading into a firey election season and going wide the same weekend as an attempted assassination of a former president, it’s focus on the moon landing – one of the most galvanizing and unifying moments of American history that is not rooted in tragedy – seems a nice salve from the vicious corporatized news cycle that was dominating the airwaves.  To ask the film to answer for these divided times is not at all fair to the film as it never was designed to do that in any true or meaningful way, but for those two and a quarter hours, it offers a sweet reprieve and a look back at when we all came together to cheer on and lift each other up. America is, was, and always has been great, and sometimes it takes a step back and a silly movie about a plot to fake the moon landing to remind us of them.