Capsule Summary (pun intended, with minimal spoilers):
First Man is a biopic of Neil Armstrong. It’s based on the book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen, who also co-write the screenplay. It is more of a personal journey than anything else.
It covers the time between Armstrong joining NASA through the time of his world-changing trip. The tragedies and the triumphs are covered, almost exclusively from Neil’s perspective. Neil is played by Ryan Gosling in his typical style of acting, and Claire Foy portrays his wife Janet.
One thing to note, this movie is shot in what I call Shakey Cam, aka handheld camera, which very unsteady and I loathe it. However, The story was VERY compelling, and really makes you feel like you’re a part of it, so I can forgive the style, for the most part. It is an epic film and must be seen on a big screen to be fully appreciated. A bigscreen TV just won’t do. I would suggest an IMAX theater, and not a close seat, as I had for this screening.
The runtime is 2 hours and 21 minutes, and there’s a lot of ‘ground’ to cover. It is well worth your time. I enjoyed this movie a lot, and it’s immediately going onto my top 10 movies for 2018 list. It’s that good.
Standard Review (with minor plot spoilers):
This film is directed by Damien Chazelle, who worked with Ryan Gosling before, on La La Land. By all accounts I’ve read, Neil Armstrong was a rather private guy, who kept his emotions under wraps, which really fits Gosling’s acting style to a T. Gosling acts, but rarely emotes. I can’t think of anyone better to play Armstrong than he.
A lot of effort went into making this movie, and it shows. Gosling spent a lot of time with Hansen, getting to know Armstrong. Hansen was originally unconvinced that he could be properly portrayed in a movie, but after some time with Gosling, he clearly changed his mind. He appears in the film in a minor role. Gosling also spent time with Armstrong’s children to get to know the man better. Mark Armstrong has a small part in the film, too.
NASA history buffs know of some events that changed everything, and it suffices to say that those are treated with the respect and concern that you would hope. This film doesn’t have some sort of slap-dash, Micheal Bay-level of historical accuracy. Chazelle really put in the effort to make it properly, with honor and respect.
Claire Foy is definitely on the rise here. She puts in a masterful performance as Neil’s wife, Janet, and she is the very force of nature you want her to be. While most of the movie is from Neil’s perspective, the rest pretty much falls on her shoulders. Her performance is vital to this film’s success, and she holds her own.
Good films about NASA are few and far between. The Right Stuff managed to capture the spectacle of it all quite well. Apollo 13 worked well, but it jumped perspective quite often, and was good for that. Hidden Figures was a great, personal film about the women who supported the early years of the space program, and now, First Man joins their ranks as a film that’s gotten it right. It manages to be very personal, but able to capture the epic nature of what actually happened.
Chazelle also used Justin Hurwitz, another La La Land alum, who was responsible for that film’s musical arrangements, but here he is the composer for all of the incidental music (not from the 1960s). There are certain elements that didn’t gel with me. When the dramatic music swelled, it seemed a little too cheery and not serious enough, if I had to put a description on it. Most people won’t care, but, to me, it’s the one flaw in this movie. You will probably disagree.
This is one of those rare times when all the right elements come to a convergence at the right time and right place. This is an epic movie, and it should do very well.