To this day, there’s a not-insignificant number of people who believe the United States faked the moon landing: In one poll conducted for C-SPAN for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, some 6% of respondents expressed the belief that Neil Armstrong’s one small step was taken on a soundstage, not the lunar surface . The fizzy new Hollywood comedy Fly Me to the Moon offers a more plausible spin on this perennial fixation of cranks and just-asking-questions types, positing a version of history where NASA was ultimately prepared to fake the moon landing, should such a contingency plan prove necessary. The film folds this cheeky bit of tinfoil conjecture into a modestly appealing, throwback crowd-pleaser – a faintly unfashionable romantic comedy set against the gee-whiz backdrop of the space race.
Without indulging in a lot of blatantly retro affectation, Love, Simon director and former Arrowverse boss Greg Berlanti communicates with the spirit of a bygone era of star-driven studio confections, the kind in vogue when America first reached for the stars. Think of a Doris Day vehicle where she has both moon rock and Rock Hudson on the mind. The script by Hollywood scion Rose Gilroy (her dad made Nightcrawler , her mom teamed up with Riggs and Murtagh in the last two Lethal Weapons , and her uncle did Andor ) drops us into the lead up to Apollo 11.
America’s honeymoon with NASA is effectively over, and the space program is fast losing support from both the public a.