Director Greg Berlanti mostly works in television. A writer on popular television shows going as far back as Dawson’s Creek, but also including a majority of the DC Comics series on The CW, which were very lucrative for a hot minute there. The last film he directed was 2018’s Love, Simon, a very sweet and heartfelt queer coming of age rom-com, and one of my favorite films of the last ten years. His latest film, Fly Me to the Moon, was made for Apple TV+, first being distributed to movie theaters by Sony Pictures starting this Friday. And it’s the exact kind of big-budget starry romantic comedy they don’t make much of anymore.

Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) is a fast-talking marketing specialist hired by NASA to spruce up their public image in response to the Space Race of the 1960s. She meet cutes with Cole Davis (Channing Tatum), the Apollo 11 launch director and the two bicker and back-and-forth and eventually a romance blossoms. Meanwhile, with the Apollo 11 mission imminent, a shadowy figure (Woody Harrelson) asks Kelly to oversee a “backup” moon landing – a fake with a big budget on a soundstage, should the real mission go wrong. This leads to what is essentially a heist movie setup, to allow this to happen without anyone noticing.

I’ll address the elephant in the room first. This movie is bound to give lots of flat-earther dingbats all kinds of ammunition to make stupid internet comments. There have been a number of conspiracy theories about the moon landing over the years and while this film is mostly fictitious (allegedly “inspired” by a true story), this film will only add fuel to that fire. Which is one hand kind of dangerous, and yet I enjoyed this movie so much I’m tempted to recommend it anyway. Fly Me to the Moon is a zippy, entertaining throwback full of romance and laughter. It really reminds you how much fun a movie like this can be when done correctly, and I wish we’d get them more often.

Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum have a fun, snappy banter and an easy chemistry that easily grabs you from the beginning. She’s a pathological liar, but she’s pretty and bubbly and has a way of getting the job done effectively. He’s a bit doofusy, but he’s sincere and charming. The two play off each other very well. We have a great supporting cast here as well. We have Jim Rash as the director hired to handle this fake moon landing, we have Woody Harrelson and Ray Romano in supporting roles, and everyone seems to be having a great time here.

A quick note about the costume design. Academy Award nominated costume designer Mary Zophres styles Johansson’s character in the most stunning, colorful, period-era dresses and blazers. She has so many costume changes in this movie it’s almost laughable. And Channing Tatum wears the same hideous almost turtleneck sweater for a large chunk of the movie. The same sweater often in different colors. It has been brought to my attention that this is perhaps based on the way the man this character is based on would dress in the 1960s, but considering how fast and loose this movie is playing with actual history, it feels like a waste to not give Channing Tatum, who can rock a suit like few others, the same kind of great costumes Johansson has.

Berlanti directs first-time screenwriter Rose Gilroy’s script, and it’s full of snappy rom-com banter and charming sequences. At 132 minutes, the film is maybe a smidge too long, but it moves along at a nice clip and it’s entertaining enough to make the slightly bloated runtime not that much of a problem. This is shot and framed like an old-fashioned romantic comedy, the kind they used to make all the time, but we don’t see as often anymore, especially on the big screen. I saw this at an early screening last weekend with an almost sold-out crowd, and this plays especially well with an audience. I hope moviegoers give it a chance this weekend.

In conclusion, Fly Me to the Moon isn’t breaking new ground or showing audiences something they haven’t seen before, but it’s light and zippy enough to serve as an enjoyable summertime diversion. It’s a title made for streaming that is more than suited to the big screen, and in a summer full of sequels and reboots and spinoffs, it’s nice to be reminded movies like this can still occupy theatrical space. It’s a testament to the tried and true reliability of star power. If you have two leads like Johansson and Tatum, the sky’s the limit.