“STRETCHES CREDULITY, BUT FUNNY AND ENTERTAINING”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
FLY ME TO THE MOON has many funny moments with some positive references to God and a Pro-American viewpoint. For example, at one point, Cole convinces a skeptical God-fearing senator to fund the Apollo moon program because astronauts return from outer space with stronger faith in God. However, FLY ME TO THE MOON has a slightly excessive foul language count, including one “f” word and two strong profanities. Also, the man Kelly hires to direct the faked moon landing is a homosexual prima donna, who’s treated as a humorous foil. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises strong or extreme caution.
CONTENT:
Strong moral, patriotic worldview with some pro-capitalist content in a comedy with romance about fixing the public image of NASA’s moon program in 1968 and ’69, with some positive references to God (for example, a man says American astronauts return from outer space with a stronger faith in God, a sign wishes the Apollo 11 astronauts “Godspeed” and the image of a large cross appears behind the two lead characters in one scene), but there’s some politically correct content, including a woman disparages Richard Nixon, and she’s involved in a joke about the controversial “Equal Rights Amendment,” and there’s a homosexual character who’s depicted as a comical prima donna and gets some laughs;
18 obscenities (including one “f” word, about five “s” words, one AH obscenity, one SOB, and about 10 light obscenities), two GD profanities and six light profanities;
Light comical violence such as people chase a black cat, and a man falls and dangles from a rope in a large hangar converted into a TV set;
No depicted sex, but man and woman are attracted to one another, and man tells her how beautiful she is, and woman hires a homosexual commercial director to fake a moon landing just in case the real one doesn’t work (she refers to the man’s “boyfriend” in one line of dialogue, and he’s depicted as a comical testy fellow and prima donna);
No nudity;
Brief alcohol use;
Some scenes with people smoking but no drugs; and,
Some lying occurs which results in some moral relativism in the story.
MORE DETAIL:
FLY ME TO THE MOON is a comedy about a shady government agent who hires a talented Madison Avenue advertising guru to sell NASA’s Apollo moon program to the public in 1968 and then orders her to create a fake moon landing for TV just in case the real one doesn’t work. FLY ME TO THE MOON has many funny, light moments with some positive references to God and a Pro-American viewpoint, but it has a slightly excessive foul language count and some politically correct elements, including a homosexual prima donna who’s treated as a humorous comical foil to the movie’s heroine.
In the movie’s first act, a mysterious government agent named Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) approaches Madison Avenue guru Kelly Jones, played by Scarlett Johansson. Moe says he works for the President and wants her to help fix NASA’s public image. The Vietnam War and domestic problems have diluted the public’s enthusiasm for NASA’s Apollo moon program. Kelly’s not interested because she already has a big job working for Ford Motor Company. However, Moe has undercut her Ford job by exposing a big trick she played on the executives to convince them to use one of her marketing ideas for Ford’s Mustang car. Also, Moe knows some secrets about Kelly’s past that she wouldn’t want other people to know.
Down in Florida, however, Kelly bumps heads with the handsome Apollo launch manager, Cole Davis, played by Channing Tatum. Cole is attracted to Kelly, and even told her saw before they were introduced when he accidentally ran into her at a local diner. However, he doesn’t like the fact that Kelly’s advertising methods involve some lying and stretching the truth. Kelly’s methods also involve things like putting astronauts on cereal boxes and linking them with fancy watches.
Despite that, Kelly’s methods turn around the image of the Apollo moon program. Even better, more Congressmen are willing to fund the program.
Cole’s not happy, however, when Kelly tells him that the White House wants a TV camera put on the moon lander to televise Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s first steps on the moon’s surface. The Apollo engineers are trying to save weight and adding another 12 pounds to the lander presents a new problem for them. However, they do it anyway, because everyone realizes how important it is to record man’s first steps on the moon.
Things take a turn, however, when Moe approaches Kelly and tells her to create a fake moon landing for TV just in case the real one doesn’t work. No one can know about it, he tells Kelly, not even Cole. Eventually, Moe makes another demand that puts Kelly into a bigger moral quandary.
FLY ME TO THE MOON has many funny, light moments with some positive references to God and a Pro-American viewpoint. For example, at one point, Kelly and Cole must convince a God-fearing senator to support funding for the moon program. The Senator thinks the space program undermines faith in God, but Cole tells him that astronauts return from space with a stronger faith in God after seeing the majesty of God’s Creation. At other points, a sign wishes the Apollo 11 astronauts “Godspeed,” and a cross image appears behind Cole and Kelly as they have a major conversation. In addition, despite the government hype involved in the Apollo program, the movie has a genuine feeling of nostalgic patriotic success when it turns out that NASA and its astronauts pull off the feat of the century, landing a man on the moon.
That said, FLY ME TO THE MOON has a slightly excessive foul language count. Most of the foul language is light, but there are a few strong obscenities and two strong profanities. Also, the movie has some light politically correct moments. For example, when the government agent makes a final immoral demand on Kelly, her assistant says that’s what happens when you trust Richard Nixon, the controversial American president at the time of the moon landing on June 19, 1969. Also, the man Kelly hires to direct the faked moon landing is a homosexual prima donna, who’s treated as a humorous comical foil to Kelly, the movie’s conflicted heroine. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises strong and extreme caution regarding FLY ME TO THE MOON.