Society is filled with an abundance of popular myths, which make it very clear that regardless of how far we believe we have been able to go in terms of technological innovation and sophisticated cultural thought, we are always going to default to believing in the most inane and deranged theories, solely because of how widespread they tend to become. One of the most fascinating conspiracy theories of the 20th century (and which still persists in some circles to this day) is the belief that the 1969 Apollo mission, in which the United States successfully landed on the moon, was staged in an effort to prevent any errors from taking place during what was supposed to be a moment of immense victory in the continued conflict between them and the Soviet Union, and that the television broadcast was filmed on a studio lot, far from prying eyes. A singularly ridiculous theory, albeit one that has been entertaining society for decades, it has always lingered as one of the most popular pieces of contemporary cultural lore, and we now have a work that addresses this supposed event, albeit from a fictional perspective. Fly Me to the Moon sees director Greg Berlanti and screenwriter Rose Gilroy working from a story by Bill Kirstein and Keenan Flynn, which proposes the existence of Project Artemis, a collaboration between the US government and a particularly shrewd advertising executive hired to make NASA more marketable, and who ultimately work together to create an alternative to the real moon landing, in the hopes that if anything does go wrong, there will be a backup that will prevent any potential scandal that would come from yet another failed mission. A strong film, albeit not one that is particularly daring or revolutionary in terms of style or substance, Fly Me to the Moon has significant merits that make it deeply entertaining, but not enough to escape a few minor problems that don’t always feel analogous to the intentions of the film as a whole. However, in an era where we see so few traditional, simple comedies made about such intriguing subject matter, we can easily overlook the flaws and find value in its vision, as predictable and cliched as they may be in practice.

A well-crafted period comedy can be absolutely delightful when done right, particularly because it appeals to the sense of nostalgia we often get, even if we are viewing something that takes place in a time or place to which we are unfamiliar. The past is a fascinating place, and when formed correctly, such a film can be very effective. Fly Me to the Moon takes place in one of the most exciting eras in American history – the 1960s were a time when the entire world was changing, and the United States was at the forefront of many very exciting developments (although far from the only place in which there were significant cultural and societal shifts occurring), so it makes sense that a film set during this period would take advantage of these elements in its endeavour to do something different. Berlanti’s intention here was to work from this script, which was decidedly very conventional, and create a film that captures the era, evoking the Swinging Sixties in a way that was mostly steeped in reality but also very compelling, which essentially involved sanitizing it of some of the thornier and more disturbing elements (of which there were many – the darkest this film gets is discussing the tragic loss of the crew on the Apollo 1 mission, as well as a recurring joke about Richard Nixon being corrupt), and rather emphasising the more twee and endearing elements. It’s a fictional story, so everyone had free reign to construct an ideal version of the era, and we find that most of the film, as simplistic as it may be, is quite effective. The costuming is impeccable, the production design is authentic enough to transport us back to the era, and the overall tone is playful and entertaining, enough to strike a chord with most viewers. It’s arguably not the most realistic depiction of the era, but it does make sure that there is some sense of authenticity in certain areas, refusing to be too overtly detached from the real events that inspired the film, creating a wonderful hybrid of fact and fiction that proves to be mostly quite effective, even if only marginally.

From the very start of its production, Fly Me to the Moon was designed as a vehicle for its cast, with Scarlett Johansson being present from its inception, boarding it as a producer in addition to taking on the starring role. She has done so much action-oriented fare in recent years that, it is often easy to forget that she’s a very charismatic presence even without the help of over-the-top cinematic spectacles to guide her along. She’s excellent when she puts in the effort, and this film contains one of her most lovable performances. Playing a con artist masquerading as an advertising genius who inadvertently gets coerced into working with the government (the same institution responsible for her childhood trauma that eventually evolved into this desire to run away from reality), she is fantastic, delivering a well-maintained, honest performance built on nothing but her sheer charisma and excellent comedic timing. She is paired with Channing Tatum, another actor who has proven to be fantastic when he is willing to do the work, but who has unfortunately faded from the mainstream popularity he held a few years ago. Throughout this film, he proves exactly why he is difficult to pin down since the performance allows him to oscillate between a dashingly handsome leading man whose biggest merit is his looks, and genuinely brilliant comedic timing that was surprising a decade ago when he revealed himself to be hilarious, but has now become a common trait of a lot of his performances. Nonetheless, both leads are excellent, and their chemistry is very strong, not even in terms of the romantic subplot between the characters, but in every one of their interactions, Johansson’s wise-cracking feminist vehemently against the institution is a stark contrast to Tatum’s All-American patriot. They’re joined by a tremendous supporting cast, including wonderful performances by the ever-reliable Ray Romano and Woody Harrelson, both of whom are excellent additions to a very strong cast, fitting in perfectly with the period and helping guide the narrative along exceptionally well.

However, as charming as it may be, Fly Me to the Moon is not free of flaws, and we find that it doesn’t attempt to pass itself off as being immune to criticism, or even aiming to be seen as an authentic or factual piece. Instead, it is a historically-inspired film, not one that intends to be entirely authentic – but this doesn’t mean there were areas even within this approach that required more work. Firstly, a glance at the running time is not very encouraging – a film such as this does not need to be any longer than 100 minutes, but yet it runs over two hours, which is not necessarily a flaw within itself, but rather a sign that there is far too much compacted into this film, and as we’ve seen in many examples of overlong comedies, this means unnecessary sub-plots, superfluous characters and a sense of excess that makes it abundantly clear a few additional visits to the editing room to trim down some of the content would have been very much welcome. The core story is fantastic, but it’s those that occur around it that don’t really have much place in the film, and could easily have been shaved off. The most notable aspect of this is found in the fact that the film is built around a burgeoning romance between the two characters, which is entirely unnecessary and could have been elided entirely. Getting rid of this aspect of the story and instead focusing on the platonic relationship between the characters would have not only spared us some of the most predictable and hackneyed scenes, but elevated the film, showing that a man and a woman can work together and succeed without being driven by insatiable desire for one another, or the very obvious enemies-to-lovers storyline that is beyond conventional at this point. Some may argue that configuring the film around a romance was the only way to get it made, since audiences would not respond well to something that didn’t pander to these very obvious conventions – but ultimately the surrounding story is strong enough to stand on its own, and audiences would have been equally as invested had it been focused on the historical element more than a half-developed, meaningless romance that has very little practical use in this film, and which ultimately weighs it down, preventing it from reaching its full potential.

Fly Me to the Moon is not a film that will send anyone into orbit, and it can be accused of staying a bit too close to our atmosphere to be consistently daring or as ambitious as the subjects that are portrayed throughout, but this certainly doesn’t mean that it lacks merit. This is an example of consistency being a valuable asset, even when it doesn’t result in anything particularly revolutionary, since it follows a very simple pattern that has been proven to be exceptionally effective, even if only marginally so. The film can’t avoid the very obvious cliches, but it also puts in very little effort to actually steer away from these elements, seemingly being cognisant of the fact that they’re playing with common tropes, which tend to be the most reliable. It isn’t quite on the level of films like Down with Love and That Thing You Do! (both the gold standard in terms of 1960s pastiche comedies) as far as being bold, colourful emulations of the era, but it does well enough with the resources it is given, which leads to a very effective and frankly wickedly entertaining film that contains several terrific details and proves to be a lot of fun when it hits its stride. It does have shortcomings, such as being far too long and not developing some of its plotlines enough to justify being at such a length, but it more than makes up for it through the presence of two charismatic stars, a terrific supporting cast and a general sentiment to do something daring and engaging without attempting to reinvent the genre or do anything unexpected, which leads to a very compelling and genuinely engaging homage to the past, and a wholeheartedly entertaining affair.