Fly Me to the Moon

Story

With the horrific and deadly Apollo 1 disaster, a series of unsuccessful missions, and the US apparently lagging behind the Soviet Union in the space race, the public have lost interest in the Apollo 11 mission.

To reignite their enthusiasm, Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson), a representative of the president, hires the fast-talking Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johanssen) as the new marketing manager to promote NASA and get the funding they need to make the lunar landing a reality.

Sparks fly when launch director Cole Davis (Channing Tatum), determined to do everything possible to get his guys to the moon, can’t quite bring himself to follow the objectives of Kelly Jones.

While Cole continues to run systems checks and reduce the weight of every possible component, Kelly hires actors to impersonate the staff on TV and she has the astronauts promoting everything from watches and underwear to sports cars and breakfast cereal.

Despite the tension, things look pretty good for NASA until Moe blackmails Kelly, insisting that she film a top-secret alternative landing in case NASA fails. Kelly reluctantly agrees but Moe sabotages the cameras on the rocket and insists that they use their filmset instead. Kelly turns to Cole for help, realising as she does so that she may lose everything she has ever worked for. But it’s not long before she learns that some risks are always worth taking.

Themes

War: space race; betrayal: scamming and dishonesty; corporate greed: politics

Violence

Fly Me to the Moon has some violence. For example:

Three astronauts are burned to death in a cockpit. Their screams can be heard over the headsets as flames engulf them.
Cole is blasted off his feet and knocked to the ground when a large hydrogen tank explodes behind him. He is singed but otherwise unharmed.
Fire blasts out the window of a testing facility.
Cole gets angry, reacts aggressively and nearly attacks a reporter on set.
Two actors crash into each other on set and get caught up in a bunch of cables.
A series of images are shown depicting Russians landing on the moon first and pointing lasers back at the earth.
Kelly tells Cole about the time her mother shot and killed a man who pulled a gun on them.

Sexual references

Fly Me to the Moon has some sexual references – for example, Kelly tells Cole that she does not want ‘to stop, drop and roll’ with him.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Fly Me to the Moon has some substance use. For example:

Many characters smoke at different stages throughout the movie.
A group of young people party and drink by a hotel pool.
Characters drink wine to celebrate.
One character offers others scotch in shot glasses, which everyone drinks.

Nudity and sexual activity

Fly Me to the Moon has some nudity and sexual activity – for example, Cole and Kelly kiss.

Product placement

Fly Me to the Moon has some product placement. For example, the following products are displayed or used in this movie: Omega watches, Holiday Inn Hotels, Life Magazine, TAB soft drinks, Tang, Corvette Cars, Peter Pan Peanut Butter, Kellogg’s Cereal, Froot of the Loom underwear, Nestle, TWA airlines, Hoover Vacuums, Heinz, Ford Mustang, Lincoln Continental, Virginia Slims cigarettes, Camaro and Sony.

Coarse language

Fly Me to the Moon has some coarse language.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Fly Me to the Moon is a comedy drama featuring great performances from an all-star cast. With powerful messages about persistence and redemption, the movie provides an interesting glimpse into a dramatic period in US history. The movie is best suited to teens and older audiences.

These are the main messages from Fly Me to the Moon:

The truth will always be the truth, even if no one believes it.
There’s a solution to every problem but to find it you might need to look at things from another perspective.
Sometimes there’s nothing more important than being a part of something real.

Values in Fly Me to the Moon that you could reinforce with your children are courage, ingenuity, creativity, determination, teamwork, and honesty.

Fly Me to the Moon could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like:

dishonesty and pretending to be someone or something that you are not.
using or blackmailing others for personal gain.
shady advertising tactics.
Governmental cover-ups.