Directed by: Damien Chazelle
Written by: Josh Singer, based on the book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen
Starring:
Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong
Claire Foy as Janet Armstrong
Jason Clarke as Edward Higgins White
Kyle Chandler as Deke Slayton
Corey Stoll as Buzz Aldrin
Rated PG-13 for some thematic content involving peril, and brief strong language
I walked into this movie knowing that I was about to see a great one. This excitement came from lingering amazement and fond memories of Chazelle’s La La Land (2016) and Whiplash (2014), respectively. I was also excited about the fact that this is Chazelle’s first movie that isn’t strictly about music.
But don’t assume the film doesn’t live up to Chazelle’s musical standards – the score was highly impressive. Justin Hurwitz did an incredible job of highlighting specific instruments throughout the soundtrack, to emphasize the intensity of each scene. From bongos to harps, the music has a purpose, and you can sense that purpose throughout each scene, truly feeling the emotions the composer is attempting to express.
This is the second time Chazelle and Gosling have teamed up, after knocking it out of the park with La La Land two years ago. I get the distinct impression that this will become a new favorite director/actor combo, on par with Scorsese/De Niro. Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong, and of course, we all know Armstrong’s historical significance as the first man to walk on the moon (hence the title of the movie). However, many aren’t aware of the struggles he faced, both personally and professionally, along the way, and I certainly wasn’t.
Claire Foy is magnificent as Janet Armstrong, Neil’s wife. In my opinion, her portrayal of Mrs. Armstrong is truly Oscar-worthy. Foy is very restrained throughout the movie. However, there comes a moment, the night before Neil is set to leave when she simply can’t take it anymore and lets it all fly. That scene is my absolute favorite of the film – due largely to Foy’s acting.
As amazing as that scene is, this would be a boring movie about the space race without the other high-intensity, jaw-dropping scenes that take place at other points throughout the film. Neil’s training involves practice flights in both jets and other NASA vehicles, including a few crash landings – thankfully he avoids serious injury. If we didn’t know Armstrong takes that “one small step for man,” the viewer would almost start to believe Neil may not live to be “First Man.” Unsurprisingly, the space scenes are visually stunning.
The only thing I would change about the movie is the pacing because it develops rather slowly. Its 141-minute runtime could easily be shortened. There is a lot to learn about Neil Armstrong and his hardships, but a slightly shorter movie would’ve been sufficient.
I believe First Man is an important movie. There are other cinematic adaptations of the book, but it needed to be told again for today’s audience. Our parents (or maybe grandparents) vividly remember sitting down with their families to watch the moon landing on TV. I wasn’t around yet, but I grew up watching Apollo 13 (1995). I didn’t know (or remember from school) the specifics of the work Armstrong and NASA had to go through to make the Apollo 11 flight happen successfully, and lay the groundwork for future space flights. The film made these important lessons in American history interesting for a whole new generation.
The film includes some fascinating stock footage of the public protests surrounding the mission and the belief at the time that the space race was doing significant damage to the economy. The protest scenes felt like they could have been taken straight from any news broadcast from the last month (or years, or whatever – not turning this into a political rant). The big difference is that now we aren’t sending people to the moon…at least that we know of (Honeymooners, anybody?).
3.5/4 stars
