First Man (2018)
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First Man Movie Review
First Man is a 2018 biopic directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy. It’s a phenomenal movie that ranks among the year’s finest flicks.
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“We need to fail down here so we don’t fail up there“
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Everyone knows the story of the Apollo 11 mission and the subsequent landing on the Moon in 1969. It’s one of mankind’s finest achievements in history and it’s honestly a surprise that it took Hollywood this long to make a spectacle, big movie out of it. And thankfully it’s a future classic as I simply loved this film to pieces.
First of all, Donald Trump and all those Americans who bashed the film for not being patriotic enough… I don’t have anything to say to such people and the fact that those still exist in this day and age is hugely disappointing to me. Damien Chazelle made a beautiful choice to make a real drama instead of a patriotic American propaganda bullshit that plagued so many of the similar films previously. The film has enough of the patriotism in some lines and in all the flags present, but thankfully it mostly left the Space Race and the Soviets out of the picture and focused on other more important things.
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This achievement should be humanity’s achievement and not just American and the movie wonderfully showcases that. It is a thriller-like film as well where those travelling scenes are simply horrible how scary they are. They almost make this a horror film. The film thus succeeds as a very exciting space drama, but it’s also a phenomenal biopic that explores Neil Armstrong so well while also being an intimate chamber piece which deals with human emotion and not just the spectacle.
Neil himself is great here. I simply do not understand those criticisms that he’s difficult to sympathize. Maybe because I am a bit like him – introverted and reserved in groups, I strongly empathized with his character. Neil Armstrong was like that and the movie portrayed him as he was and that’s great. I still found him to be a great hero and a complex, very intriguing individual.
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Janet as his wife is also phenomenal and I loved such a big emphasis on her. The film so well showcased her troubles and how she went through hell being married to an astronaut. Jason Clarke’s character is quite likable as is Kyle Chandler’s one. Unfortunately, I found Buzz Aldrin to be the worst mistake the movie made. Corey Stoll was simply a bad choice to play him and the film focused so barely on him that it’s ridiculous that such a crucial figure was basically left out of this story which should include him. The team itself is fine, but the movie sorely lacked in those other characters individually.
The two best and most important performances in the film are those of Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy. Gosling is underrated in this role as is his character. He was here actually better than he was in ‘La La Land’ as he played this complex, introverted, mysterious figure beautifully and he sold all those intense as well as emotional scenes. But Claire Foy is the acting highlight as she had to play such a big emotional role and she did it wonderfully. Her anger, sadness and fear can all clearly and realistically be seen on her face making her really stand out.
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First Man also is a big technical achievement across all aspects. The cinematography is striking and the decision to shoot the flight scenes from the perspective of the astronauts paid off tremendously in making us the audience go through hell together with the protagonist. That is why this movie is a major audio-visual cinematic achievement that should be viewed on the biggest screen possible. I loved that feeling of being in that ship as it made me appreciate the astronauts’ struggles much more. As for the close-ups, yes, they can be extensive here, but most are fine and I did not mind them too much.
The score is a mixed bag for me. I loved some pieces here and the overall epic feel of the film is so well conveyed thanks to a couple of amazing compositions, but the landing on the Moon itself I felt was badly scored. It was great music, but it did not fit with the action on screen at all. But for the most part, the music is excellent. The sound editing is particularly superb.
The dialogue is also terrific as is the emotional investment. The film has many great scenes including those flight scenes, the landing itself and the devastating family talk near the end, but the highlight was that moment where he honored his daughter on the Moon. That was made-up, but still such an indescribably beautiful moment that it mostly corrected the previously rushed daughter subplot for me. Damien Chazelle killed it once again in the directorial chair by making such a different movie than ‘Whiplash’ and ‘La La Land’ and another classic.
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Thanks to combined efforts of fantastic cinematography and amazing sound editing, First Man manages to put us the audience into the spaceflight itself which made this a great thriller-horror experience and an audio-visual experience that simply needs to be seen on the biggest screen to be appreciated to the fullest extent. The movie has some issues such as sorely underutilized Buzz Aldrin, but Neil Armstrong is, despite what many would say, a great, introverted and intriguing protagonist so well acted by underrated Ryan Gosling. Claire Foy steals the show though with a powerhouse performance in a very emotional role. The film thankfully stayed away from annoying patriotism that plagues so many American movies by instead focusing on the more intimate family drama and all the tragedies that befall them with that bracelet scene on the Moon being the most beautiful, poetic moment. It was tough, but Damien Chazelle actually managed to top himself by making his best film so far which is one of the biggest cinematic achievements of the entire year.
