Fly me to the Moon: A comical twist on moon landing mysteries
An urban legend says that Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, though the entire event was supposedly staged and directed in one of Hollywood’s major studios, according to conspiracy theorists and semi-literate individuals, uttered the following sentence alongside his famous words: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” He also allegedly said, “Good luck, Mr.
Gorski!” Armstrong was pressured from all sides… Who is Gorski? A rival colleague? A Russian astronaut? The mystery of who Gorski was remained unresolved until the early 1990s, when Armstrong, surrounded by journalists at Camp David, finally gave in.
He told them the following: “Listen. As a kid, I grew up in the suburbs. The older kids would play baseball, and I was the one who fetched the balls. One day, a ball ended up in the yard of my neighbor, Mr. Gorski. As I entered the yard to retrieve the ball, I heard Mrs.
Gorski yelling at Mr. Gorski through an open window: ‘Intimacy? You want intimacy? You’ll get it when the kid next door walks on the Moon!'” On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first human beings to walk on the Moon.
It was an inspiring moment for people worldwide. But some people are fools, so they took that inspiration and quickly turned it into a conspiracy theory that NASA staged the entire Moon landing on a soundstage. Hollywood likes to stay relevant, so filmmakers quickly seized on this paranoid fantasy.
Just two years after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon, James Bond stumbled upon NASA’s top-secret film studio in the movie “Diamonds Are Forever.” The government enlisted O.J. Simpson to keep a fake mission to Mars a secret in the 1977 film “Capricorn One.” By the time we reached today, it was no longer even a subversive idea.
It was just a gag for characters in children’s films like “Minions.” Fly Me to the Moon (2024) is the latest romantic comedy set against the backdrop of the story of mankind’s landing on the Moon. Neil Armstrong did indeed utter the famous line, but Gorski is not mentioned, and the entire charade was staged, though not in a Hollywood studio, but on a set built at NASA (as seen in the trailer).
However, how it all looked, you can see for yourself when you visit the temple of the seventh art to watch Fly Me to the Moon because it wouldn’t be fair for you to learn everything about the film’s plot from this review.
What can be revealed further, without spoiling the viewing experience, are details related to the protagonists: Scarlett Johansson as the more-than-capable marketing manager Kelly Jones, who is brought into NASA to “sell the trip to the Moon” to Americans (especially to senators whose financial support is crucial), and Channing Tatum as Cole Davis, one of the key figures in NASA, the flight control director.
Their meeting is arranged in a standard meet-cute scenario that will surely make you laugh. Cole is honest. Kelly is a compulsive liar. They have nothing in common except a shared and seemingly impossible goal of landing American astronauts on the Moon.
It’s a formula for romantic chemistry that could be taught in science classes, not just in film school. Lesser actors might coast on this premise and get away with it, but Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum are on fire.
Almost all romantic comedies have a “sweet meeting” scene, but very few will leave you rooting for the characters afterward. Furthermore, one of the significant, albeit secondary, but crucial characters for the plot is the hilarious Woody Harrelson as the mysterious government man Moe Berkus, whose job is to ensure everything goes smoothly, even if it means faking the mission.
Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski captures “Fly Me to the Moon” with colorful polish, longing, and a sharp evocation of 1960s visual aesthetics that never hit you over the head. Costume design by Mary Zophres and production design by Shane Valentino create a spicy combination.
Rose Gilroy wrote the screenplay based on a story by Keenan Flynn and Bill Kirstein, and the screenplay smartly navigates from frothy romance to tears and back. Best of all, “Fly Me to the Moon” cleverly takes its bitter conspiracy theory and treats it as a threat rather than a fact.
The mission to land a person on the Moon was successful because people believed it could be done. Director Greg Berlanti successfully shaped Rose Gilroy’s screenplay, based on a story by Keenan Flynn and Bill Kirstein, into a moving picture that will genuinely help you relax and unwind.
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