It may not have all the right stuff, but what “Fly Me to the Moon” lacks in narrative coherence and tonal consistency it makes up for, in part, by simply existing. If that sounds like damning with faint praise, it is. By all rights, the movie, set mainly in 1969 during the lead-up to NASA’s Apollo 11 lunar landing, should have been a far sharper, kickier, more propulsive ride.
That said, general audiences may find the film a sufficiently entertaining throwback — the kind of glossy, star-driven, big-canvas, IP-free picture that’s been in short supply on theater screens for way too long. And the potential of sparks flying between stars Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum certainly has its heart-swelling appeal. The result, though, directed by Greg Berlanti ( “Love, Simon” ) from a script by first-time feature writer Rose Gilroy (from a story by Keenan Flynn and Bill Kirstein), is a nostalgic, wannabe-screwball rom-com that’s sadly light on both the “rom” and the “com.
” As the movie goes on, the plot becomes as distracted as my Labrador retriever on squirrel watch. Johansson, also a producer here, shines as Kelly Jones, a New York marketing dynamo with a penchant for stretching the truth if it means sealing a deal. Little does she know she’s being tracked by Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson), a shadowy operative working for then-President Richard Nixon, who hires Kelly to help sell the looming moon mission to an uneasy and cynical American public.
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