Very hard hitting look at the man, the men and the wives of the early space program.

Rating: 8/10 (14 October 2018)

First Man, 2018 film starring Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke and Kyle Chandler.
Factual look at the times of the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong and the years leading up to the historic step on the moon. We see the trials and tribulations he underwent in both home and work. July 20, 1969 he became the first human to stand on another celestial body, his name and actions will live in our history forever.
I do not normally go to theaters to watch new films. I have plenty to keep me busy until they arrive on streaming services or dvd but this one was on my must list. Now, they did use the shaky cam effect throughout which I am not a fan of but when I got beyond that I was riveted to the screen. I for one did not know that he was plagued by the loss of his young daughter, actually most people I guess were unaware as he kept it to himself. This film showed us the human behind the man, his faults, his troubles and his mistakes.
The film, I am told, is very factual and what you saw he pretty much went through. Actually, unlike Apollo 13, this film showed us the family side of this famous astronaut and to me that was a great touch. They stayed away from the technical side of things and focused on what the men went through, physically and emotionally. To me, all of these men from Apollo down to Mercury were absolute hero's and pioneers. Can you imagine taking a trip into space in a container filled with bulky, shaky and loud instruments. With a computer less powerful than today's smart phones? Man, they had guts, they saw the future vision better than any one else. They also knew that any time they went up the may not come back!
This film should be shown in schools as the history lessons it provide can't be learned from just reading a history book. If you are to see any movie in theaters this year it has to be this one. Everything you see actually happened and we go to know Neil in a way that, to me anyhow, made me more impressed with his life. Gosling played a very good part here, he doesn't say much but his emotions transferred through the screen to me and I felt for Armstrong. I did find a tear coming down when he had to bury his daughter, no man should have to go through that. I was also very much glued to the screen when they landed on the moon and got a further emotional charge when Neil stood near a crater by himself and made peace, finally, with his lost daughter.
This is a must see emotional film that everyone will love. Forget streaming services, when this comes out on BluRay I am getting it. To see this review and more visit movies.3brew.com