Runtime:
138 minutes
Directed
by: Damien Chazelle
Starring:
Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Corey Stoll, Pablo Schreiber, Jason Clarke
From:
Universal/Dreamworks
Fly me to the moon...
For a film where you already know what the ultimate outcome is, this
is an incredibly compelling journey with great acting and some brutally
intense moments. I can admit that I've been interested in space since I
was a little kid so perhaps I am a little biased here but I found this
movie to be great, even if the focus was on a stoic figure who often did
not say a hell of a lot. Plenty of acting had to be done without the
benefit of speech and as Ryan Gosling is a natural at that, I thought he
was tremendous as the lead.
First Man spans a lot of material in a two hour and eighteen minute motion picture as you see NASA go through the various steps in attempting to have Americans land on the moon first before those damned Soviets do, from the perspective of not only Neil Armstrong but also his family. There are plenty of books and documentaries that go more in-depth on this arduous journey to allow Apollo 11 to occur but this is a nice summary of all the challenges that occur and how it results in a lot of strain on the family lives of those in NASA; at least with Neil, he was often focused on work at the expense of being around his family. He is a loving dad and all and yet he became preoccupied with this goal. Claire Foy was also great as Neil's wife and among other things she had to tell him to avoid the difficult task of telling their kids that he may not make it back home from the unprecedented mission. A big reason for this is due to tragedy that happens to the family in the first act; it was one of a few tearjerker moments but this was the most important one due to how it affected him for the rest of the picture.
I was not worried if this would be a well-made film, and of course it was between the musical cues and soundtrack & the cinematography that made much of the film appear as if it was made in the 70's; the cast was uniformly fine but Gosling and Foy were the true highlights. As I alluded to, there are some intense moments; to echo something I heard a few days ago, you don't always need monsters & aliens to make outer space terrifying as hell. When things suddenly go wrong, it becomes edge of your seat entertainment where you may grab tightly onto the armrests of the auditorium seats.
I get why some have felt underwhelmed by this picture; thankfully for my tastes this was not the case and it was an inspiring tale which demonstrates how it was such a difficult task to have someone land on the moon and why it was a monumental achievement in human history. Also, you learn that apparently Buzz Aldrin was a loose cannon who was unfiltered and uttered statements out loud he probably shouldn't have. Considering that in the past decade he punched some toolbag who confronted him and said he believed in the moon landing hoax theory... I'll presume that is how Buzz actually is.
First Man spans a lot of material in a two hour and eighteen minute motion picture as you see NASA go through the various steps in attempting to have Americans land on the moon first before those damned Soviets do, from the perspective of not only Neil Armstrong but also his family. There are plenty of books and documentaries that go more in-depth on this arduous journey to allow Apollo 11 to occur but this is a nice summary of all the challenges that occur and how it results in a lot of strain on the family lives of those in NASA; at least with Neil, he was often focused on work at the expense of being around his family. He is a loving dad and all and yet he became preoccupied with this goal. Claire Foy was also great as Neil's wife and among other things she had to tell him to avoid the difficult task of telling their kids that he may not make it back home from the unprecedented mission. A big reason for this is due to tragedy that happens to the family in the first act; it was one of a few tearjerker moments but this was the most important one due to how it affected him for the rest of the picture.
I was not worried if this would be a well-made film, and of course it was between the musical cues and soundtrack & the cinematography that made much of the film appear as if it was made in the 70's; the cast was uniformly fine but Gosling and Foy were the true highlights. As I alluded to, there are some intense moments; to echo something I heard a few days ago, you don't always need monsters & aliens to make outer space terrifying as hell. When things suddenly go wrong, it becomes edge of your seat entertainment where you may grab tightly onto the armrests of the auditorium seats.
I get why some have felt underwhelmed by this picture; thankfully for my tastes this was not the case and it was an inspiring tale which demonstrates how it was such a difficult task to have someone land on the moon and why it was a monumental achievement in human history. Also, you learn that apparently Buzz Aldrin was a loose cannon who was unfiltered and uttered statements out loud he probably shouldn't have. Considering that in the past decade he punched some toolbag who confronted him and said he believed in the moon landing hoax theory... I'll presume that is how Buzz actually is.
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