First Man appears to have been built for the Oscars. Let's go over the checklist: Steven Spielberg. Check. Damien Chazelle (Director of last year's winner, La La Land). Check. Josh Singer (Writer of 2016 Oscar winner Spotlight. Check. Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling. Check. Golden Globe winner Claire Foy. Check. Every year, it seems there are one or two films that feel like they were created with the Academy Awards in mind. First Man obviously fits that bill. But is it worth watching? My wife and I went to the theater last night for the full IMax experience. The short answer is "yes." For the long answer, continue reading.
I'm not sure how many Americans remember the space race. I didn't live it. Or more accurately, I wasn't aware enough of the world around me as our space program took flight. In school, just a few years later, we learned about JFK's speech suggesting the United States would land a man on the moon. In the early 1960s, that was a bold statement. The Russians were beating us in space. We were at the apex of the cold war when Kennedy made his bold prediction. Our space program suffered severe losses as the United States engaged in a bold endeavor to catch up and pass the Soviet juggernaut in space. First Man recounts the story from the perspective of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) who commanded the moon mission and uttered the famous words "one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind."
First Man doesn't begin with Project Gemini (pronounced "gem-en-ee"). It starts a few years earlier, shortly after the Kennedy speech. Armstrong works for NASA as an engineer/pilot. Armstrong is distracted by his daughter, who is dying from a brain tumor. He seems distracted. Her death has a profound impact on Armstrong, who thrusts himself back into his work as quickly as he can. When he senses he may be "grounded" he decides to apply for Project Gemini. He is accepted, moving his wife (Claire Foy) and son to Houston. The team begins training and building missions that will test the theories and equipment that will get the United States to the moon. The program suffers several setbacks as equipment fails and members of the team are killed. But Gemini pushes forward, driven by men who understand the sacrifices already made and are committed to seeing the project through to the end.
First Man takes an interesting approach to the subject matter. The writers manage to give the story a strong human element while also providing an engineer's perspective. For anyone who has a friend who is an engineer, you will get it. Engineers sometimes have an almost detached view of the world. Almost mechanical. The story does an excellent job of incorporating that perspective without losing the humanity of the story. The loss of Armstrong's daughter seems a bit overplayed, but fits okay into a broader story. There is a scene that ties the story together and is based in fact, so I concede the point. The writing is pretentious at times, with that "I want to win an Oscar" vibe that tends to make the story feel overstated. But it is a worthwhile story that is well constructed and has a nice narrative arc in spite of the fact that we all know how the story ends. By inserting a second story into the story we already know, we get a bonus. The writing was excellent, in spite of the inflated sense of itself.
About the flag. There was some hype before this film came out about the mission to the moon, which included the planting of the American flag. It was a big deal at the time. This was the space race. And "we" won. The flag was a central theme as the United States demonstrated American exceptionalism with a grand accomplishment. The producers of the film decided not to focus on that aspect of the landing. I was a bit perturbed when I heard that. Yet the whole issue was blown out of proportion. If that is the issue keeping you from this film, don't let it. The American flag, the space race with the Russians are central themes in this film. The flag is shown in a broad shot of the lunar lander and it is seen at different times during the film. It is not as if the writers attempted to re-write history. The film is accurate, they simply chose to focus on the human story rather than the space race at that point in the film. I think it made the film more effective.
The casting for First Man was on point. I have long been a fan of Ryan Gosling (dating all the way back to Lars and the Real Girl and Half Nelson when his career was first taking off). He would never have struck me as astronaut material, but I think we tend to think of those guys as space cowboys and forget that they were largely "eggheads." Armstrong certainly was. They were engineers. Gosling does a great job of delivering that personality on screen. Foy has been getting a lot of work it seems, with her taking the role as Lisbeth Salander in the reboot of Dragon Tattoo out soon. She was strong as Janet Armstrong. She was an excellent counterpoint to Gosling's somewhat intentionally understated performance. I also enjoyed Jason Clarke as Ed White. Corey Stoll took the role of Buzz Aldrin and left me wondering "was Buzz really that obnoxious?" It is written into the film that way, Buzz runs his mouth too much and says offensive things. The character provides a dose of reality. The astronauts had personality issues like the rest of us. It brought the story down to earth a bit. Stoll was great in the role. The casting was spot on.
First Man is good for the entire family. It is rated PG-13, based mostly on the tragedies associated with the program. As well as Armstrong's personal tragedy. There are a couple of funerals and several deaths and talk about death in the film. But none are graphically depicted. But the idea is firmly planted without giving us excessive gore. Which this film certainly could have. The film has contextual alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and strong language. All of it fit into the narrative. I would not restrict this film by age. It is an important part of our history. The film does a great job of delving deeper into the human cost of the endeavor, making the story personal and relatable to the average person. The film has a lengthy run time of two hours, 21 minutes. But it doesn't feel that long.
First Man is an excellent film. I really enjoyed the cinematography, although the jerky camera was a bit much at times. It could have been toned down a bit when the scenes were not related to the space craft. It wasn't excessive like those horror films that feel like a ten-year-old is carrying the camera. But it is noticeable at times. What I really like, though, was that the launches were filmed completely within the spacecraft. Rather than using establishing shots, much of the action happens from an astronaut perspective, helping create a sense of isolation and uncertainty as you have to trust the craft. It reminds me of a quote from John Glenn about that trust:
I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of 2 million parts — all built by the lowest bidder on a government contract
You get a sense of that from this film. The cinematography, sound, casting, writing and subject matter all have the makings of an Oscar winner. This film will get a few nominations. It deserves them. I don't think it will win Best Picture. But it will get nominated in that category. Gosling may get a nomination, Foy will certainly get one. It will be interesting to see how it pans out. But the film is definitely worth seeing. Especially in IMax. 8.5/10.
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