“The truth is the truth, even if nobody believes it. A lie is a lie, even if everybody believes it.”
It's the 1960s. Space race is the name of the game, yet crossing the outer frontier is not at the forefront of everyone's mind... yet.
Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson; “The Avengers” series, “Black Widow, “Hail Caesar!,” “Her," an intrepid marketing maven with a mysterious past, cuts her teeth in commercial advertising in the mean streets of Manhattan. Her sassy stunt in one corporate boardroom attracts a bigwig, Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson, “The Hunger Games” series), working for the highest office in the land.
Kelly and her plucky associate (Anna Garcia) are plucked out of obscurity and end up in the NASA public affairs office in coastal Cocoa Beach. By public affairs office means the two ladies on their own, against camera-shy and reluctant administrators, astronauts and engineers.
By chance Kelly had a meet cute with a NASA suit, Cole Davis (Channing Tatum; “Hail Caesar!") in a diner prior to arriving at her new office. They end up working together and butting heads, as aerospace science and advertising don't exactly go together. Cole is not an empty suit though; he used to be in the astronaut program and was also a former space launch director.
The public affairs' mission, as relayed by Moe, is simple, garnering unwavering support for the launch of the Apollo 11 to the moon. Not mission impossible for Kelly. Brightly alluring and adroit in advertising, she boldly goes where no woman, or man, has gone before – sell the moon to the masses.
Americans are by nature explorers, adventurers and pioneers. And it's not merely a matter of the prideful planting of the American flag on the moon. It represents people's hopes and dreams for a better future. Besides, for Americans, who wants to be beaten by the Russians?
With the moon to market, Kelly pulls all the stops to get the manned space flight. She hires attractive actors to play NASA star staff and get them interviewed on live television. Pushing the envelope further, Kelly creatively brings in corporations to partner with NASA, lending their famous brands and products, and sponsor media ads. The unorthodox tactic works in generating public curiosity and interest.
All the while, Kelly and Cole grow closer together. While Cole may not always agree with Kelly's chutzpah, he's deer-in-the-headlight dumbfounded and can't argue that she gets results. When it comes time for schmoozing with senators to vote for funding, they become partners. They also learn a thing or two about each other, as well as life philosophy. What lies can get you and what truth can.
The story takes off with the impending launch of Apollo 11. NASA is now over the moon. Its popularity has shot into stratosphere, and the moon landing mission will be, well, too big to fail. The world is watching. Anything short of moon landing would cost the world's its collective dreams and Americans' stance in the world's stage.
Kelly has always shot to the moon, as she’s under the impression that NASA would land among the stars, even if they miss. But her promotional mission takes a drastic turn into staging a fake moon landing, just in case things go south in space. For Kelly, this kind of deception doesn’t land, but she has no option at this point.
To keep a secret this spectacular a top secret, she pulls off a miracle work, with the help of some trusted and creative friends. The team goes into great detail in imagining and recreating the lunar surface, down to the dirt and dust, space atmosphere and source of light, lodging of the space capsule on the surface; choreographing fake astronauts touching the ground, descending flight stairs, having moon movement and moon walk without the earth gravity, and planting the American flag.
If discovered, to say that this would cost NASA its credibility and the American pride would be an utter understatement. And for Kelly, she also has a personal stake; it would end the honeymoon phase of her budding relationship with Cole. Kelly keeps her head down and does her job, until Moe takes flight. He reveals the next level, classified make-believe, crossing all boundaries and erases all traces of truth.
What ensues is a race against the clock, between layers of lies and singular truth. An even smaller circle of team is off to the races behind the scene to ensure that the truth is out there. Kelly also learns to be a part of something real and for the greater good for once. This behind-the-scenes frenzy are juxtaposed with the countdown to lift off in the firing room and tense moments in space and landing on the moon. There's an inside joke cleverly weaved into the story.
In the firing room, all hands are on deck to ensure a successful blast off. Apollo 11 launches into space with a fiery fire blast, cloud of smoke and water vapor, and micro particles flying off. The rocket booster separates and the shuttle reaches space, landing on the moon. A pair of astronauts step onto the lunar surface. All broadcasted to the whole wide world to witness in real time… the real question is, is that one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind moment real or fake?
The movie uses footage of the past, saturated colors, period-appropriate clothes and machines, lending nostalgic feelings. The space launch scenes are indescribably visceral and victorious, uplifting to the point that over 50 years later, in the age of artificial intelligence, that moment in time in history remains awe-inspiring and lighting hopes for a better future.
While this is a fictionalized story surrounding a historical fact, the story soars. The movie has compelling storyline, cinematography, directing and acting. Johansson goes for the jugular.
One for the ages, “Fly Me to the Moon” is glossily retro, glorious and hilarious, dramatic and delightful, heartfelt and heart-pounding, inspiring and entertaining.