Review of First Man (2018) by Grady M — 18 Oct 2018

First Man is as personal as it gets. The film is as emotionally engaging as it is lingering. You aren't left wondering when the action starts, as the first moment is Neil flying the iconic X-15 at the start of his NASA career. While it moves at a rapid pace, it does cover a decade in time, and one could be forgiven for not following the opening events.

From a perspective of an astronaut, this film is very first person, and it beautifully conveys emotions of anticipation and nerve during flight of the rockets. From a family viewpoint, that being the Armstrong's, you can start to see what a toll the race to space had on the families closely involved in the space program.

Scientifically and technically accurate, the film follows Armstrong's movements very well, intertwining actual Apollo radio communication with Ryan Goslings responses. The sounds of the rockets are exactly as they were in reality, and even small things are shown in detail, such as the friction of the atmosphere on the X-15.

In terms of historical accuracy and importance, the film falls short. My wife asked me afterward what the point was if going to the moon if so many died and, as a consequence, the families suffered. This is an answer not covered until a short sequence at the end of the film. While it is touched on, the historical context has been neglected- that being America was in fierce competition with Russia, and that this was primarily political and a matter of national pride. This isn't really addressed, and this background is essential to seeing the personal ping pong of emotions between Neil and Jan in a more realistic light.

The film also fails to mention that NASA was mostly, at least among the astronauts, not too caring about what skin colour a person is. A scene used to describe the cultural climax of 1960s America highlights segregation of the time, but again missing accuracy, there were African American people involved in important areas of NASA, including a black astronaut. This should be better shown in the film rather than a portrayal of history and perceived injustice using hindsight- hindsight is a poor historian.

Regarding Neil, every moment he sees quiet we are left to think it's due to an emotional struggle. True at times, this isn't perfectly representative of his character - he was a quiet person, with words thought out before he spoke, like any test pilot.

It would have been better to be more accurate in these three key areas, and because so much thought has gone into this film, perhaps trying to avoid highlighting issues that may confront the audience, it fails the 5 star rating.

The film is good, however, and should not be avoided because of this. Just remember what was involved, and Neil is the antihero which Gosling tries hard to portray.