Movie Breakdown: First Man

Pre-Screening Stance:

Damien Chazelle directed Whiplash and La La Land.  If that’s not reason enough for you to be excited about First Man, then there may be something wrong with you.

Post-Screening Ramble:

There’s been a lot of buzz zipping around for First Man, and I can tell you now that it’s all entirely warranted – the film is undoubtedly one of the year’s best.  I’ll also note this, it surprised me.  I certainly figured it would be great, but I was thinking that it would be similar to the blockbuster-ish docudrama Apollo 13.  It’s not.  First Man is completely focused on telling the story of Neil Armstrong and while there’s Interstellar-like visuals and plenty of scenes that showcase the trials and tribulations of NASA’s goal to get to the Moon, it’s an overall intimate affair.  So, if you don’t know anything about Neil Armstrong the man, you will after you watch this very personal film.

You need to see First Man.  Not only will it surely get nominated for Best Picture and a slew of other things, but it’s just a wonderfully compelling, engaging story about a driven, conflicted man saddled with one of the most difficult tasks in human history.  By the way, I advise seeing it in an IMAX (if you can).

One Last Thought:

Ryan Gosling is very good in First Man, but he’s essentially just Ryan Gosling.  If there’s anyone from this film that should be up for an award, it’s Claire Foy.  The woman is a real force every time she’s on the screen, and I assume we’ll all be seeing a lot more of her from here on out.

One More Thought:

I’ve never thought of Damien Chazelle as a “big film” kind of director, but after watching some of the dazzling action scenes in First Man, I can totally see him taking on (and hitting a home run with) some massive tent-pole property in the near future.