Film: First Man

GENRE: Biography

RATING: PG13 for thematic stuff & brief language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 21 minutes

STARRING: Ryan Gosling (La La Land, BladeRunner 2049, Drive)

Claire Foy (The Crown), Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty)

DIRECTOR: Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Whiplash)

WRITER: Josh Singer (The Post, Spotlight, West Wing)

PLOT: Neil Armstrong and the journey to be the first on the moon.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Had some high expectations based on trailers.

STORY STUFF: Pretty disappointed actually. Armstrong’s life is not all that exciting. Sure he goes to the moon and tries out a bunch of space equipment, but he’s too stoic and quiet with his family. They should have called this ‘Second Man’ and focused on Buzz Aldrin instead; he seemed a lot more interesting. While there are some great moments here and there it is threaded together with really slow family tension. It did remind me how dangerous space travel is and how I would never want to do it.

ACTING STUFF: No shocker that Gosling is once again playing someone who thinks a lot and says few words. He did not keep me interested. Foy did what she could with the material. Corey Stoll (Ant Man, House of Cards) was a breath of fresh air as the blunt Buzz Alrin. Kyle Chandler (Friday Light Nights) fits the part but it makes me miss Coach Taylor.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Most of the space shots were impressive and artsy, something I would expect from Chazelle after La La Land. Lots of shaky camera work and giving us Armstrong’s POV which works for the most part but gets a tad repetitive. Actually, the worst part for me was the score by Justin Hurwitz who apparently felt we needed to hear some more La La Land. This jazzy music completely pulled me out of the film (even though I thought La La Land was pretty decent). Chazelle find another composer; this one’s stuck on repeat.

VERDICT: Two and a half stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You love space travel and staring at Ryan Gosling.

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