A movie about the social and psychological costs of the US manned space program

Rating: 7/10 (21 October 2018)

This movie may not meet your expectations if you're expecting to see a rip roaring, feel good movie along the lines of "The Right Stuff" or "Space Cowboys." This movie is a tightly focused look at the psychology and the psychological costs of being an astronaut. In particular, being Neil Armstrong. As an engineer myself (but hardly an astronaut), I think Ryan Gosling captures the quiet introspection of the engineering (enginurd) type. He can focus his mind on trying to solve problems whether its his young daughter's brain tumor, finding a missing Agena docking target in orbit, or finding a safe place to land on the moon as the fuel runs dangerously low. Solving problems is the essence of engineering and Gosling captured this essence in a bottle. Claire Foy sheds every shred of British to become the quietly suffering astronaut's wife Jan, who is constantly left behind to deal with the home front as her husband flies into the skies, into space, and ultimately to the moon. This movie focuses almost entirely on these two people, their relationship, and their kids. The rest of the cast is there to support, from a considerable distance.
You should know that my wife did not care for this movie. There are long scenes of being shaken (in a simulator, on the Lunar Lander Research Vehicle, in a Gemini Capsule, in an Apollo Capsule, and in the Lunar Module). There are long looks at the lunar landscape reminiscent of the glacial pace of Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." The movie tried her patience. For me, I've been mentally entangled with the space program starting with the earliest days of the Mercury 7 astronaut team. I watched every launch on black and white TV. Even without seeing them in the movie, I know that Redstone and Atlas boosted Mercury, Titan boosted Gemini, and two Saturns boosted Apollo. If you're that type of person, then "First Man" is your type of movie. Otherwise, go watch "The Right Stuff."