A perfectly serviceable narrative. Nothing more.

Rating: 7/10 (11 November 2018)

As a life long space enthusiast, I was looking forward to this movie because I had always wanted to see the historic Apollo 11 landing done justice on the silver screen. The details surrounding the actual history of that mission are ripe for cinematic drama. As hinted by the film's promotional materials, no one knew what was going to happen. Several critical points in the mission went wrong which were only resolved by snap decisions and brilliant thinking.
Unfortunately, Damien Chazelle decides to take a different approach with the material. After an extremely effective opening scene involving Armstrong as a test pilot, Chazelle shifts the narrative away from the technical details of NASA (ala Apollo 13) and focuses on Armstrong's family life. While this narrative is illuminating into Armstrong as an historical figure and film character, it detracts from the film's goal as the proported cinematic account of the first moon landing.
When the mission does take place, its details are, once again, glossed over for sentimentality. Perhaps the biggest flaw in the depiction of the landing is the egregious lack of key points and problems faced by the crew which could have delivered deep emotion and, more importantly, strong suspense. This does NOT include the controversial omission of the astronauts planting the American flag, however. I recommend reading the first chapters of Buzz Aldrin's memoir, Magnificent Desolation since revealing all the omitted mission points would expose too many spoilers.
All in all, Chazelle tries to have it both ways. He wants a compelling character study of Neil Armstrong and he wants an account of the Apollo 11 mission. In the end the two narratives neutralize each other into a perfectly suitable but forgettable story.