Movie review: 'Fly Me to the Moon' doesn't land quickly

Attempting to show how the U.S. government may have hedged its bets before landing a man on the moon, the comedy also tackles monetizing the space program and a most unlikely romance.

Had this been made in the early ‘70s, Doris Day and Rock Hudson might have been the stars.

Instead, Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum are the opposites who ultimately attract.

She’s a hotshot public relations/marketing pro; he’s the mission flight coordinator.

Because elected officials are hesitant to throw money at the space program, they need to be coerced. That’s where Johannson’s Kelly Jones comes in. She markets everything from the watches astronauts wear to the powdered orange juice they drink. She’s good at schmoozing senators, too, and isn’t above helping a White House operative stage a moon landing in a hangar – just in case the real thing doesn’t come off.

Tatum’s Cole Davis is in the dark about all this (of course) and has his own reasons to see a pristine program hit its mark. The idea that “entertainers” would stage such an event is unthinkable.

Still, they carry on, determining how astronauts might walk, talk and react.

The concept is engaging but the conspiracy theory has been floated for years. Giving it credibility – even in a comedy – makes “Fly Me to the Moon” difficult to embrace.

Johansson is perfect in her role (she would have been ideal in “Mad Men”) but Tatum tries too hard to suppress his emotions. Often, that makes him wooden and difficult to see as a match for the vivacious marketer.

For director Greg Berlanti, that stalls all sorts of lift-offs.

While “Moon” borrows from other space stories (real and fictional), it doesn’t give the three Apollo 11 astronauts much screen time or offer a solid reason for landing a man on the moon. It’s more enamored with the extras and the way Johannson can march in and command attention as the program’s leader.

Because the “let’s stage a moon landing” idea is so wild, there are too many people in on the concept to keep it secret more than a day. Still, that White House operative (played by Woody Harrelson) keeps pushing. He OKs hiring a Hollywood director, casting Hollywood actors, and spending Hollywood bucks on replicating the surface of the moon.

How that would fly under the radar is one of those “OK, but…” elements that don’t work when Berlanti drags out the story just to include a romance. It really isn’t necessary, particularly when Ray Romano (as one of the NASA pros) is so deserving of more screen time.

A black cat provides mild amusement (emphasis on mild) but, like so many elements, serves to delay the space program’s most important moment. When it comes, we’re so tired of waiting we could walk, too, and feel like we didn't miss a thing.