Even though the “fake news” era was identified by Donald Trump in the twenty-first century, this rom-com, set in 1969, is right in line with it. How would we perceive an historical event like the moon landing if we suspected that the whole enterprise, including the television broadcasts, were fabricated by public relations firms rather than NASA?
Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) is a successful marketing specialist with some skeletons in her work closet. So when Moe Berrkus (Woody Harrelson) offers her a secret job in exchange for her past going away, she accepts. Her job is to go to NASA headquarters in Florida and using all her p.r. skills make the space program more popular with the public. The Apollo 11 mission is coming up, and people have lost interest, jeopardizing the country’s competition with the Russians.
In Florida, Kelly meets Cole Davis (Channing Tatum), a former astronaut who is now the launch director at the space center. He is attracted to her but not to her ideas, such as using actors to better represent astronauts and NASA staff.
As the launch approaches, Moe decides he needs to ensure that the mission succeeds, even if it doesn’t. He directs Kelly to convert an empty hanger into a launch pad so they can film and broadcast a fake moon landing if necessary.
This being a romantic comedy, and not a cultural critique, how this all plays out is not much of a surprise. But it is all very entertaining. Johansson and Tatum are perfectly cast, and their chemistry is cosmic.