Far Too Dour To Be Anything Close To Inspirational

Rating: 6/10 (15 October 2018)

There is no doubt that the moon landing was a seminal moment in United States history. However, that landing took place in 1969. Since that time, it has been covered in more books and forms of media than can probably even be counted. So, in order for "First Man" to tell an original or engaging story, it would seem to have to find an angle, whether that be cultural or character-based. Sadly, neither of those things happen here.
For a basic plot summary, "First Man" is a biopic of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling), especially focusing on the events leading up to and transpiring during his infamous moon landing mission in '69. Key factors in his backstory include the death of daughter Karen (Lucy Stafford), relationship with wife Janet (Claire Foy), and just his overall attitude and demeanor as an individual.
The problem with "First Man" is very easy to diagnose: it has absolutely no soul, instead choosing a very mechanical beat-by-beat description of the Gemini and Apollo missions that led up to the moon landing. Two main missteps really hamper the proceedings here:
1. Only lip service is paid to the social conventions or frustrations of the day, and that is a shame. Had this movie focused on, say, the controversy over the space program itself or its place in a culture going through the civil rights movement, then maybe it would have had something emotional to examine. As it is, this is about as mechanical of a film (just plodding forward) as you'll ever see.
2. Even a bigger faux pas is portraying Armstrong and his wife as so dour and lacking in any real emotion. I'm not sure if this was just bad writing or an interpretation of the real-life figures themselves, but either way it is inexcusable. Emotional moments are telegraphed left and right only to fizzle out with Gosling's Armstrong looking dour and serious and Foy's Janet coming across as cold in comparison. It's been awhile since I've seen a film with so little emotion, especially odd considering they are trying to describe a cultural touchstone moment that everyone who saw remembers vividly!
I had been anticipating "First Man" for quite some time. Director Damien Chazelle's "La La Land" is a favorite of mine, as is Gosling, and the trailers/concept seemed incredible. I left the theater feeling incredibly disappointed, however, at such a wasted opportunity. One can't really call this film "bad" in the sense that it was technically deficient, but it just lacked any reason to care about any part of it.