Film Journal 2024: Fly Me To The Moon

Film Journal 2024: Fly Me To The Moon
Directed by Greg Berlanti

Of the two films dealing with the subject of space that released this week (the other one being Space Cadet) only one of them lands the shuttle, and that would be this charming and creative crowd pleaser. If Space Cadet came dangerously close to making a mockery out of the entire NASA enterprise, the most brilliant aspect of Fly Me to the Moon, a film that also fuses equal parts comedy, parody, and serious drama/themes, is the way it uses the whole advertising agent tasked with selling the space race to a nation plagued by world conflicts and war and political divide, to quietly sell us as viewers on the idea as well. This is a love letter to the idea of space exploration as a great unifier, even as it also functions as a clever riff on the “fake moon landing” conspiracies and, in its most simplest form, a charming and hugely entertaining rom-com built off the chemistry of its two effortlessly charismatic leads (Johannson and Tatum).

The screenplay also pops with an energy befitting the tension filled fictional take on the lead up to Apollo 11, as does the soundtrack and the period setting.

I will say, as a Canadian I feel like even though I’m only an hour from the southern border, I’m also occupying a different reality that feels worlds away from this sort of overt patriotism, no matter how much it wants to sell this as “America fighting on behalf of the world.” But that certainly doesn’t leave me immune to the sentiments this is trying to evoke on an emotional level, and part of what this film does super well is balanced the bigger stakes of getting these men to the moon with the intimacy of the interpersonal drama on the ground. That I can connect to, and it is really this element that forms the lens for zooming further out to bigger realities and bigger questions, including one of the dominant themes regarding the nature of truth and lies.

As Johannsons character notes at one point, no one can believe the truth and it would still be true, and everyone can believe a lie and it would still be a lie. And yet the real point of concern cuts through this, asking whether there is something that matters more than an appeal to simple factual truth. This question is posed in light of Johannsons character using manipulation and lies to make the dream of space become a reality, suggesting that it is the power of illusion that gives people meaning and that even lies can serve a greater value. This film dares to push that further yet, paralleling the simple nature of relationships and the value of endeavors like space exploration as it wonders about the tension that exists between illusion and conviction. Does it matter that people believe the moon landing was real or fake, or does it matter that it happened? Does it matter that facts are true or that feelings and outcomes are true? What is the driving force of either our lives or our greater human pursuits in this sense?

These are strong and important philosophical observations, and I think the films willingness to leave room for one to experience both a lack or resolution and a clear resolution, depending on how we view the larger story from our personal vantage point, helps to elevate this to another level.