First Man

First Man Goes Where Many Have Gone Before                        3/5

Biopic
     For those Neil Armstrong fans out there, your prayers have been answered

Encore
     Gazelle and Gosling reunite after La La Land

Production Points
     NASA is portrayed rough and experimental, all to the films benefit




Rotten Tomatoes 88%                                  Cinemascore: B+

First Man reunites Ryan Gosling with Academy Award winning director Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Whiplash), this time for a science-fiction thriller/ biopic focusing on Neil Armstrong (Gosling) up to the famous Apollo 11 Mission. If you were born in the last week and just learned to read (which if you are congratulations that's amazing!) let me fill you in. Armstrong (not to be confused with his not-cousin Lance) was the "First Man" to walk on the moon, a defining moment in not just the cold war but in the history of humankind. However, while depicting epic set piece moments such as the moon landing and the infamous Gemini missions, First Man balances its script with a heavy amount of "down to earth" dynamics with Neil between his family and his comrades at NASA. Does it work? Well yes but not as well as I think it could have. Let's discuss.

This movie is everything I could ask for to sate my October sci-fi fix. Rather then diving into broader thematic concepts, or implementing natural and physical science into the narrative, First Man depicts NASA as a shoestring collection of improvisers, building with legos and rebuilding every time something falls apart. I love this, it adds a serious amount of tension to the numerous missions as astronauts obsessively study their spacecraft praying for the shuttle to hold together. The performances are also pretty great with Claire Foy leading the charge as Neil's husband; there is a dinner scene just before the third act where she hardly says a word and yet I couldn't take my eyes off her. Chazelle continues to shine as a director, if you saw Whiplash and/or La La Land you'll know how important a score is to Chazelle; First Man delivers a creative spin to the formula that comes together in the third act. Finally the set pieces are great and worth the price of admission alone for all the reasons I discussed above.

So if the performaces, sets and direction are all pretty great where are the the cracks? Well unfortunately within the same framework. The score for example I praised in my posties also represents a major problem with the film. An hour in a half into First Man the score was one of my biggest negatives. It dragged along inconstantly introducing unoriginal motifs throughout the film. It wasn't until the third act when all the leitmotifs were played in tandem to reveal the scope of the score that Chazelle's design finally click. This criticism for the entire film, and not just for music, but narrative and characters. Goslings performance is another point of negativity and I have to echo the criticisms of many others. It's not due to Goslings lack of talent or interest, its shown though the film to be a deliberate choice of the director to have Neil portrayed as stoic and calculated. It doesn't sink the film, but it ultimately hurts more than it helps.

The genre Chazelle chose to take a swing at is one many directors before him have threaded over the last couple of years. Nolan, Scott, Villeneuve, and Cuaron have all helped their respective sci-fi genre films pop distinctively; First Man takes little risks and stands out much less. It has some standout moments and strong performances across the board, but it can be better. It should be better. The choices made by Chazelle this time around help his film, but simultaneously hold it back from rocketing to the stars.