There is a juggernaut in the world of biopics centered around the brave souls who inhabited the U.S. space race. It is called The Right Stuff. Regardless of the target of the topic, all “drive toward the moon” pictures will have to be compared to that astounding, instant classic, see-all, be-all that is the Phillip Kaufman stunner. What First Man has going for it is that it specifically focuses on the ascension of Neil Armstrong from test pilot to the first man on the moon. It doesn’t hurt things that Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling portrays the American hero and the film is from his La La Land director, Damien Chazelle.
The thing that Chazelle and his team do incredibly well is how they efficiently paint the risk of this mission as impeccably raw and rivetingly real. This is done on several fronts. There is the actual chronicling the NASA training through fated flight aspect of the story, which is the dramatic thread that keeps this cinematic rocket moving. Filmmakers have also done an impeccable job capturing the brazen bravery that lay innately in each of the souls who strove to get America to be first on the moon.
Painfully crafted science is also showcased in First Man as it is a celebration of what we can accomplish when we all get together, commit to doing something that has never been done before, and then discover how we literally get from here to there. MORE
Then, through spotlighting the pain the families of these men go through, a true emotive connection is established between audience and picture. Standing on the mountain top of excellence is Janet Armstrong (Claire Foy). Tragedy has struck the Armstrong family prior, and that thread weaves through their home life, but also travels with Neil as he approaches his progressing destiny. As Janet, Foy is a dynamo. There is a scene in the First Man trailer where she marches into NASA headquarters demanding to know the status of her husband while he is in harm’s way that should serve as her Oscar montage when she’s nominated in January 2019. Then again, there’s the out of this world scene when she has a talk with Neil prior to evening before his historic flight. He hasn’t told the boys yet about the high risks and that he might not return. She is having none of it and Armstrong’s steely, Korean War molded emotional black hole doesn’t know how to go there.
If the motion picture turns on a dime, it is in that instant. That slingshot from second act to third act has rarely been so visceral. Everything about the film that makes it so glorious comes to a head as Armstrong finally sits his young boys down at the kitchen table and answers their questions about his trip to the Moon and the risks involved. There’s your nominee for Best Picture clip.
First Man does a decent job of painting a picture of this literally being a space race. The Russians had been leagues ahead of us, and it was killing national pride at a time where it needed the swiftest of pick-ups. Sadly, First Man does quite give us enough of that searing sense of the urgency to beat the Soviets—but for one mention when a broadcast of Russia’s triumph of scoring the first man to walk in space. Not only did that rob Edward Higgins White (Jason Clarke, stellar as usual) of that historic opportunity, but it further lowered that national spirit in America. There was such a need for the U.S. to be first in everything, whether it was this space war or a war of athletics at the Olympics. After all, the US was firmly in the grasps of the most tense and iciest of Cold Wars with those Russians. Wish that element of the space race—and how it drove those in charge (such as Kyle Chandler’s Deke Slayton) to propel his astronauts to greatness—was sprinkled in ever more slightly.
Something Chazelle masterly shows is how much times have changed in terms of men and how they process, deal and let out their emotions. How Gosling handles this cold exterior with hints of warmth for his children is stunning. When tragedy strikes at any given time, it is a marvel to witness how this generation of men sorted its emotional swamp. Can’t tell you how many times in my head, I heard myself say, “Talk to her, Neil!” For those who don’t feel an emotional connection to the characters, the actors delivered men of their times in the most impeccable of ways.
Each player in Chazelle’s ensemble played pitch perfectly. Corey Stoll (Ant-Man) gave us a boisterous, yet affable Buzz Aldrin. Ciarán Hinds, Pablo Schreiber, Patrick Fugit and Lukas Haas are just a few of the souls who brought First Man to further levels of excellence.
Gosling as Armstrong is a revelation. It seems like a stone-faced, hold-back-his-emotions character could just be portrayed as such, yet Gosling gives him multiple dimensions through not saying much at all. He may have been a quiet man, but he lets his professional and heroic talents speak volumes for how he feels about things. In those familial scenes, it is pure blissful joy witnessing Gosling’s command of his character from the perspective of a father with two impressionable boys. Those kids look up to their dad infinitely more than the rest of the world will before the end of the film. It is all captured with such beauty, frankness and untouched realism that Gosling has given the art of film a true gift with his work as Neil Armstrong.
Foy is everywhere lately, what with her appearing in next month’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web and who could forget her sizzling turn in the sensational Unsane. She portrays Janet as a beacon in this story. From her husband to her fellow astronaut wives, Janet is a rock. When she is required to go to a lower level or, even, a higher level, Foy flexes thespian muscles in Janet that are astonishing. Her performance crafts the question, “What was more stressful… those in space, or those waiting for their safe return on Earth?”
When a biopic or a film that chronicles something well-known from history has an ending that the world keenly knows, it is a challenge to keep your audience engaged. That is hardly a problem for Chazelle and his company of storytellers. This film captures a multi-year journey with envelope-pushing science, that must adhere to iconic historical accuracy begging for truth, with a visual palette that includes the lush, loving Earth and the vast, vacant and unforgiving Moon.
Yet, Chazelle makes it look easy. Well done sir. Well done.
Grade: A