Review of First Man (2018) by Troy M — 16 Oct 2018

"First Man" -- So, yeah, you're saying, "but I know how it ends"... and that's true. But what you don't know is how it began for Neil Armstrong, and what he went through to get there. Which is what makes this film absolutely riveting. Armstrong flat out was an exceptional human being, almost tailor-made to be an astronaut. It's no wonder he was the first to walk the moon, and "First Man" captures his journey in close-up, visceral, gut-churning fashion, with Damien Chazelle and his team putting you right in the center of Armstrong's experiences. His anxiety, terror, wonder, and sense of accomplishment are vividly shared with the audience in a way that not many films can achieve.

And yet, Armstrong himself was a man whose outward emotional response was never far from center -- in other words, we feel everything much more than he did (or at least as the film portrays him). Gosling is pitch-perfect as this man of few words (sort of his wheelhouse), and Claire Foy infuses what would normally be a fairly rote put-upon wife role with nuance and passion (an ultimatum she gives Armstrong late in the film is a show stopper). Not only a vital portrait of early American space flight, but of a singular man and his both inner and outer quests, "First Man" is pretty close to must-see as you can get.