First Man is a biopic movie that centers around the 1969 moon landing, in which Apollo 11, manned by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, made history by landing on the moon, with Neil being the first man to walk on its surface. Buzz walked on it, too, but people usually tend to focus on just Neil. This movie does, so why shouldn't I? The cast includes Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, Claire Foy as Janet Armstrong, Corey Stoll as Buzz Aldrin, Jason Clarke as Ed White, among others. It was directed by Damien Chazelle, who had previously worked with Ryan Gosling in 2016's La La Land. First Man, while centering around Apollo 11, is also based on the book "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong" by James R. Hansen. I haven't read the book, but I really want to now that I've seen the movie adaptation. First Man was, for the most part, well-received by audiences and critics, but there were some people who thought otherwise. Some people thought it was an overly-patriotic take on the moon landing, some people thought it wasn't patriotic enough given what it's about. I personally didn't know the full story going into it, but I've done a lot of research before writing this so that I'd know what I'm talking about. And, now that I have, let's take a deeper look at the movie so I can give my thoughts on it.
This movie is a non-fiction, biographical look at a real life event, one of the most important in human history. Naturally, if this movie were to be made, it would have to be as faithful as possible to the real life events it's portraying. For the most part, it is! Note the "for the most part", though, cause there are a couple instances of artistic liberties being taken, some larger than others. For example, when Neil finally walks on the moon in the movie, he takes a bracelet that was once owned by his daughter Karen and drops it into a crater. Whether or not this actually happened in real life is up to debate, though there's no evidence that he did. It was a sweet moment in the movie, though, so it gets a pass. Another scene showed Neil crashing during lunar landing training, which did happen in real life. In the actual event, Neil emerged virtually unscathed aside from a bit tongue. In the movie, he gets dirt and ash on his face as well as a first-degree burn. But the biggest, and arguably worst, change is this movie's portrayal of the Apollo 1 disaster. You all know what happened: There was a fire, it consumed the oxygen and turned it toxic, the astronauts' suits and oxygen tubes melted, and they burned up in the fire while also being forced to inhale all of the toxic cabin air. It was absolutely horrific. In this movie, though, a fire does break out, but then they explode, dying quickly. One the one hand, I understand the change. The filmmakers probably thought we wouldn't want to watch the astronauts burn to death. On the other hand, I feel like it would've been more a powerful scene if it were accurate to the actual event. You could show it off-screen and it would still have the same effect.
Other than those examples, plus a few more minute ones, this movie is pretty faithful to real life, and I have to admire it for that. But let's move on from that. Ryan Gosling was really good in this movie. He doesn't really facially resemble Neil Armstrong all that much, save for a few moments, but his acting is so good here that he easily pulls it off. He is so charming and so likable, but that's usually how it is in a Ryan Gosling movie. I loved him as Neil. Jason Clarke was great as Ed White, too. True, he dies halfway through it, but I enjoyed what we got of him. And the rest of the actors, even the children, gave good performances, too. But, to me, Claire Foy gave the best one. Oh, my God, Claire absolutely knocked this movie about of the park. She plays Neil's wife, but she does not take a backseat to Gosling. Her performance is so enthralling and so real. I had never heard of her up until this point. I've never seen The Crown or anything else that she's done, but boy do I want to now! She was so good! There's a scene hat takes place just before Neil goes off to make Apollo 11 happen. He's packing up his suitcase, being distant from his family, not talking to anyone. And then Janet walks into the room. What follows is probably the best-acted scene in the whole movie. Janet starts asking Neil why he hasn't told his kids about anything involving his trip. When Neil doesn't respond, Janet starts going off on him. Slamming the door, throwing the suitcase against the wall, getting up in his face, swearing at him, yelling at him. It's intense, it's uncomfortable, it's emotional, and it feels real. It feels like a concerned wife begging her husband to say goodbye to his children on the off chance he doesn't come back. It's outstanding and it's mostly carried by Claire Foy. True, Gosling has some lines and facial reactions, but Claire owns the scene. If she doesn't at least get nominated for an Oscar for this movie, I'm gonna be highly upset.
Another thing I loved about this movie is the chemistry among the Armstrong family. They are so adorable. I loved seeing the kids interact with the adults or with each other. I didn't see actors when I looked at them, I saw a family. A close family that genuinely cares for each other, even through all the fights and disagreements. The very first scene sets the tone for the family. It opens with the death of Neil's daughter Karen. The first few scenes show the family putting up a strong front for the sake of everyone else to help get them through this tragedy. It's powerful. We even see Neil go off to himself so he can finally burst into tears without the rest of his family seeing him break down. Ryan Gosling is really good at act-crying, by the way. It's one of his best scenes. The family's chemistry also leads to a couple genuinely funny moments between them. What's the scene that immediately follows Janet's scene I described in the previous paragraph? The family sitting down at the kitchen table, the kids asking Neil questions about the moon mission, and Neil answering them in the same way he would if he were in a televised press conference. Brilliant. And then it all gets capped off by Janet giving a very uncomfortable "Okay, time for bed" as if she regrets making this conversation happen. I love it. It's handled exactly the way a scene like this should be handled.
Which brings me to my next point about the movie: It absolutely nails the atmosphere. Director Damien Chazelle said that he wanted to approach this movie as a thriller and try to make the audience feel like they're in space with the astronauts. In my opinion, he succeeds in spades. Every time Neil goes up into space in this movie, something goes wrong and he has to work his way around it. These scenes are extremely well-done. The very first scene sees Neil bounce off of the atmosphere during a shuttle test. The camera is shaking to the point where you can't see anything, an alarm is blaring, some of the shots feature the shuttle spinning out of control. It all comes together to give the audience an immensely intense scene. And this is how it happens every time something goes wrong in space. Now, normally, that would get old very fast. It doesn't in this case, however, solely from how well Ryan sells it. Neil is clearly scared, but he doesn't freak out. He tries every option he has as calmly as he possibly can and always finds a way out of it. It's very nice to see him so level-headed in the face of danger. And, when Apollo 11 finally happens and Neil is making his famous first step on the surface of the moon, Ryan pours his heart into it. I knew it was coming, but the way Ryan says the famous "This is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" line, I got chills up my entire arm. Such a good line read. And the movie also nails the feeling of being in space. In this movie, when we're in space, there's no sound effects aside from the characters speaking. None whatsoever. The way it should be in scenes like this, given how there's no way any sort of sound can be heard in space. I'm looking at you, Geostorm! Yeah, music is sometimes heard playing over these scenes, but that's just to add to the atmosphere of the moments. There's no actual sounds that are heard in the space scenes, minus the shots that take place in the shuttles.
But let's get back into the things I found wrong about this movie. Aside from the changes to the history I mentioned earlier, I do have other gripes. There aren't that many, but they are worth talking about. Halfway through the movie, there's a scene that shows various groups of people protesting all of the billion-dollar rocket tests that NASA is doing. I don't have a problem with the scene itself. It's well-shot, well-directed, and gives an insight as to how these tests are effecting the civilians. There's a man that sings a song about all of these awful things happening to him and his peers that are apparently being pushed aside in favor of the rocket tests. It's a good song. Well-written, well-sung, and it raises some legitimately good points about the lifestyle of that year. But, then, this scene and everything that happens in it are never brought back up again throughout the rest of the movie. Not even once. It's kind of a bummer. I like the idea that was presented in the scene and I would've loved to have seen it be explored more, but nope. It's never even mentioned in a passing sentence after it ends. The scene could've been cut and the story wouldn't have been changed.
Something else that I thought felt off about the movie was the way it ended. The last scene sees Neil returning home safely, being shown to his quarantine room where he'll be staying for a while in case he caught any diseases from the moon, and then being allowed into an empty room with a window in the middle. Janet then walks into the other side of the room. She silently walks over to a chair in front of the window and presses her hand against the glass. Neil returns the favor and the movie ends with that. Kind of an odd way to end on. Not a bad scene, but it doesn't feel like an ending scene. I also don't like how the movie doesn't probably end. It just kinda stops. They touch hands, the screen cuts to black, and the credits start rolling. But don't take that to mean that I don't like the scene itself, cause I greatly enjoyed it. I like the fact that they don't say anything to each other. You see them start to say something a couple times, but then they don't. It's as if they can't think of anything to say and would rather just enjoy each other's presence. I like it a lot. I just don't think it works as the final scene of the movie. Wouldn't it have been more fitting to end on Neil lovingly spending time with his family at his house? Or being interviewed at a press conference about his experiences on the moon? Or anything that doesn't involve the movie just abruptly stopping? Just felt a bit weird to me. But that's basically it in terms of the problems I have with the movie. Some of the issues are kinda big, but still overlookable. I've just invented a new word, you're welcome.
On the whole, this is a very enjoyable movie. History buffs will enjoy the accuracy (for the most part), movie lovers will enjoy the acting, and space nerds will enjoy everything else. The moon landing is a very interesting event, and the movie portrays it rather well overall. I recommend it. I'm giving First Man a 7.5/10. Don't Throw The Harpoon at it. It doesn't warrant it. But, seriously, Hollywood, if Claire Foy doesn't at least get an Oscar nomination for her superb performance, I'm boycotting you. I'll do it. Be afraid.
