This zingy, retro romcom from Love, Simon director Greg Berlanti takes a leaf out of the screwball playbook as it brings together two lovable leads for friction and flirtation. In a story set during the 1960s space race, Scarlett Johansson lights up the screen as a woman on a mission, with Channing Tatum her smitten but infuriatingly stoic love interest.

Events unfold in Florida, as the Americans strive to get their men on the moon. Tatum is the ‘easy on the eyes, hard on the ears’ launch director Cole Davis, while Johansson plays Kelly Jones, the shrewd and sassy marketing maestro brought in to boost NASA’s public appeal. Woody Harrelson is the mysterious government fixer who recruits Kelly, Anna Garcia plays Kelly’s right-hand woman, and Jim Rash is outrageously entertaining as a difficult and demanding film director who comes to play a key role.

The stars share chemistry and their romance is cute, even if some of the film’s more sentimental and serious moments don’t quite come off. Johansson’s flair for comedy is underappreciated and she’s really in her element here. Playing a buttoned-up, traumatised type, Tatum has fewer opportunities to cut loose comedically but, with his enjoyably offbeat delivery, shows his chops when he can.

The put-downs from screenwriter Rose Gilroy ping back and forth delightfully, while Fly Me To The Moon has a blast with the setting and myths surrounding the real-life events, and benefits enormously from its surreal and silly sense of humour. The mixture of elements doesn’t always gel, but it feels churlish to quibble when the film coasts along so winningly on old-fashioned charm. They don’t make ‘em like they used to apparently. Except when they do.

Fly Me To The Moon is in cinemas from Thursday 11 July.