Review of First Man (2018) by B P — 12 Oct 2018

First Man is a mixed bag. First off, it's too long. I read a critic on RT that called it "Oscar-needy," and that captures it perfectly. We don't get enough behind the facade of Gosling to care about his emotional journey the way we need to.

As is Gosling's nature, the steely-stare is usually a blank canvas, and the story fills in the blanks, but here, we get Gosling's trademark lack-of-emotion without the full picture reflected back through the plot.

Instead, the film tries too hard to emotionally manipulate, and we're left less than satisfied. That being said, this picture is also quite innovative, not in its cine, necessarily, although its aptly shot, but rather the cine strategy, that is, giving us a constant POV of what it was like to walk in Armstrong's shoes.

From that vantage, this film is a breakthrough of sorts for major prestige pieces like the ones Steven Spielberg EPs. The result was a feeling of being there unlike many films I've ever seen. Particularly during the Gemini 8 mission when things go haywire.

It's something else, that's for sure. In the end, we watch films because of the emotional journey, not the spectacle, and that's why I was just OK on First Man.