(spoiler free)
Not content with their city of stars, Ryan Gosling and director Damien Chazelle have the moon in their sights with new collaboration and Oscar favourite, ‘First Man’. Based on James R. Hansen’s book ‘First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong’, Josh Singer adapts for the big screen with Gosling portraying Neil Armstrong and Chazelle piloting the mission from the directors chair. With all elements prepped and ready for launch would ‘First Man’ end up being a giant step for movie kind or simply lost in cinema space?
Well, Houston we have a problem, many problems. The story of the first man on the moon is momentous, full of the wonder of space, the marvel of rockets and the fascination of the unknown – a story screaming out for the big screen treatment. In light of this it’s some achievement that ‘First Man’ manages to convey none of this excitement resulting in a thoroughly dull and boring cinematic ordeal. We get glimpses into Armstrong’s home life, it’s these moments where the film has its greatest potential, however too often the narrative focuses on sluggish NASA drama instead. These scenes are full of physics jargon which will only make sense to astronauts or engineers as it’s seldom explained or made engaging for audiences. In one moment the film touches on the politics of the space race, offering an intriguing narrative slant highlighting the range of public opinion only to ignore it once again favouring the factual, more clinical elements to the story which would be more suited to a documentary than a film. Attempts are made to give the film an emotional angle and you can appreciate what the filmmakers are trying here but there simply isn’t enough development to make this effective and as a result the film fails to evoke even a single emotional response.
In addition to these problems ‘First Man’ had a hurdle to overcome right from the get go, we know the outcome of this story. Everyone knows (conspirators aside!) Armstrong gets to the moon and takes that historic step, because of this the journey to this point needed to be compelling and the fact is it just isn’t. The sequences we see in space are frustrating to watch. Chazelle puts viewers right into the heart of the action with the camera spending the majority of its time focused on the pilots of these space crafts. Whilst this is somewhat immersive the novelty soon wears off and you’ll find yourself craving a look at the bigger picture of what is going on, desiring shots watching the trajectory of these crafts from afar giving a greater context and scale to the action. It would be unfair to omit the achievements of the cinematography especially in the moon landing sequence but in a similar vein to the narrative it’s astonishing how these visuals fail to evoke the emotional response the filmmakers surely intend them to.
Technically it’s a well made film, there’s just no denying that. It looks and feels the part for the era of history it’s set in. Its methodical storytelling shows an attention to detail and the cast perform in a serviceable fashion. It’s a shame that all of these elements and the film as a whole just feel so utterly lifeless. The only exception to this is the excellent Claire Foy who portrays Armstrong’s first wife, Janet Shearon. Foy is a captivating force in an otherwise barren narrative, injecting energy, passion and gusto into a less than compelling screenplay. Of all the potential for awards this film will surely attract none is more warranted than for Foy’s performance, which hopefully will not be overshadowed. Even the usually excellent Gosling, fails to make his mark here. There is room for excuses though as this is partially a result of him portraying Armstrong, a grounded and humble man. However, the combination of such a character and performance with an underwhelming screenplay doesn’t make for engaging enough viewing and more needed to be done to make this a success.
The mammoth running time only exacerbates all of these issues and will leave you reminiscing about the many other cinematic highlights that this setting has already given us instead of engaging with the story unfolding right in front of you. The talent attached to this project and the nature of the story will dupe many critics and academies but many general audiences will fail to enjoy ‘First Man’ due to its lack of heart and unjustified confidence. If it wasn’t for the technical achievements and Claire Foy’s tremendous performance the film would be completely without merit. Ultimately, ‘First Man’ feels like Oscar bait in its truest form with the finished product almost entirely being a failure to launch.
Written by Hamish Calvert
Rating – 2/10
Question: How many Oscar nominations do you think First Man will receive?
(Leave your answers in the comments section below!)
Thanks for reading this review and please let us know what you thought about the movie! Leave a comment below or drop us a tweet over at @HCMovieReviews.
HCMovieReviews 
Leave a comment