First Man

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Patrick Fugit, Christopher Abbott, Ciaran Hinds, Olivia Hamilton, Pablo Schreiber, Shea Whigham, Lukas Haas, Ethan Embry, Brian D'Arcy James, Leon Bridges
Directed by: Damien Chazelle
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
2018

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) prepares for the launch of Apollo 11 with the hope of being the first man to set foot on the moon.

Review:

Tim: I feel torn about First Man. On the one hand, this is an effective, entertaining look at Neil Armstrong as he prepared for the famous Apollo 11 mission. This film is enlightening and informative and it's worthwhile. There's a lot to like here, including the fact that it did win an Academy Award. On the other hand, it's hard not to feel some level of disappointment. More on that in a minute, but I need to stress that I feel very mixed emotions as I consider this movie.

Some of this is due to director Damien Chazelle's own success and the increasing high bar he has set for himself. With Whiplash and La La Land, he established himself as one of the most exciting directors in Hollywood. Both of those movies are incredible films, some of the best of the past decade. Whiplash won 3 Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor. La La Land was even more successful, winning a stunning 6 Academy Awards, including Best Actress and Best Director. So when Chazelle announced he was doing a biopic of Neil Armstrong with his La La Land lead Ryan Gosling playing the famous astronaut, most people were beyond excited. It felt like this would undoubtedly be another incredible movie, win a bunch of Oscars, and for me, make it on my Top 10 of 2018 list (his last two films did). Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way. This is a really good movie. And that's about it. I wanted to love the film, but I could only like it. So, on the one hand, you have to congratulate Chazelle because a really good movie is a really good movie. And yet, it's hard not to feel like this is a clear step down from his previous two efforts.

While watching this film, I was really fascinated to see the behind-the-scenes look at Armstrong's life as well as the lives of the Apollo astronauts. We all know the details of the successful mission from history class, but few people really stop and consider what it was like for them. We know Apollo 11 was successful, we know Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. It's a given. But at the time, it was the most daring, dangerous mission ever undertaken by human beings. There was no guarantees the mission would work, in fact- it probably should have failed. The brazenness of the endeavor probably shouldn't have panned out- too much could have gone wrong. It was incredible to watch these men risk their lives on such a mission and to consider the impact this had on their families. I'd never really stopped to consider that before. I very much appreciate this movie for causing me to pause and do that. But here's the thing- even though that is enlightening, I never felt riveted by the story. It was good and it was easy to pay attention, but it never gripped me as strongly as Whiplash or La La Land did. That's one of the biggest weaknesses of the film. I wanted to see how it all worked out and understand it better, but the characters themselves weren't nearly compelling enough.

Ryan Gosling does a good job as Neil Armstrong- Gosling is undoubtedly one of the best actors working today. By the end of his career, he'll be considered one of the all time greats. While his performance is top notch, it was hard to connect with Armstrong. He's not the most likeable guy, he was reserved and extremely driven. We still needed to care about him, though, and that could have been better. It felt like Claire Foy's talents were somewhat wasted here. She has a few decent moments, but not much more than that. Jason Clarke gets some really good scenes and he makes the movie better. Kyle Chandler was the same way- he's so great at playing these smaller supporting roles and helping a movie in subtle ways. Corey Stoll did a great job as Buzz, bringing some much needed energy and humor to the film. The rest of the supporting cast were impressive, but it felt like we didn't get enough time to explore any of their characters. The supporting cast includes Patrick Fugit, Ciaran Hinds, Pablo Schreiber (whom I really, really like), Shea Whigham, and Ethan Embry. And yet, if you add up all their contributions, it's minimal. That was disappointing. I would have liked to spend more time with some of them, although to be fair, the movie was already overly long at 2 hours, 21 minutes. Chazelle really couldn't afford to spend any more time on them. It just felt slightly disappointing to have such a good supporting cast and not give them much to do.

Chazelle did continue his Oscar winning streak, as First Man won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. I thought the effects were fine, but there were far better movies with far greater effects. That felt like a consolation prize. I don't believe this film truly deserved it. Still, it does make this an Academy Award winner. It had to be a little disappointing that this film was only nominated for 4 Academy Awards, all technical categories. That's one mark of a good but not-quite-great film.

I do feel a little bad for knocking First Man. It's a thoroughly well made, entertaining Neil Armstrong biopic. That's really good and it's definitely a movie worth seeing. However, Chazelle spoiled us with his last two films. It's impossible for a director to deliver a truly great movie every time (just look at Steven Spielberg, probably the greatest director of all time. He's made a ton of "really good movies"). In that vein, Chazelle still deserves his spot as one of the most exciting directors today. If his "lesser" movies are as good as First Man, you know the guy is seriously, seriously talented.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Apollo 11, Apollo 13, The Right Stuff, La La Land, Whiplash