Review of First Man (2018) by Joshua S — 12 Nov 2018

It's a bit surprising to me First Man wasn't a bigger deal than it is... Other than conservative pundits bitching about a flag not being planted at the end. I mean Ryan Gosling is a bona fide star now and Damien Chazelle has made two successful pictures (Whiplash and La La Land). And it's an event that is unmistakably an American triumph, with or without a flag raising. But then again, I shouldn't be surprised. Space exploration movies in the 21st century need a big hook to become a designated "event film" and be successful. (See: Gravity, Interstellar, and The Martian.) And a SIGNIFICANT percentage of the American population now believes the conspiracy theory that the lunar landings of the Apollo missions were elaborate hoaxes.

So, people are fucking stupid. We knew that. But it obscures the fact that First Man is a serious and intelligent film that is more interested in interpersonal development, than it is interstellar travel. And what scenes we do get of the Gemini and Apollo missions are documentary-like, realistic, claustrophobic, and well-researched. First Man focuses on Neil Armstrong's struggle of trying to cope with a chaotic American space program and the loss of his daughter. The domestic scenes are something out of Terrence Mallick's Tree of Life, minus the internal narration. The mission scenes are reminiscent of The Right Stuff, but more focused for obvious reasons. Damien Chazelle opts for a glacially-paced and arty film, rather than an octane-fueled one. That being said, some scenes will keep you on the edge of your seat with building tension, even if you know the result. Gosling acts his ass off, despite the constant criticism of his disengaged expression in many of his roles. His earnest believability and heartache carries many scenes. Claire Foy manages to avoid the nagging wife stereotypes and displays the other half of a couple trying and failing to deal with grief. First Man is a superb and nuanced film that easily could have been a lazy biopic, but it strived to be something more. It's not a perfect film and lacks the oomph or energy to achieve true greatness, but its certainly an interesting choice and one that manages to land on target.