A big disappointment

Rating: 6/10 (13 October 2018)

As a big fan of movies about space travel, and real life astronauts, I had eagerly looked forward to this movie. It was a disappointment for 90 minutes out of the total 130 minutes of the movie. The last 40 minutes, when the Moon trip finally begins, and the spectacular shots of the moon surface, were worth seeing. Rest of the movie- not at all. It moves at a snail's pace. The interesting parts are about the astronauts, but they are frequently interrupted by- for example- Janet Armstrong yelling at her son or her husband, etc. Not much chemistry between the two actors. The frequent closeups are rather irritating.
The editing and the screenplay are terrible. They could have shaved off 30 minutes of this movie and made it much more effective. The characters display various emotions but they don't touch the audience. Granted this is Armstrong's story but did they really have to ignore someone like Buzz Aldrin, who is one of the most famous astronauts? The third astronaut Michael Collins, on the Apollo 11 mission was totally ignored. Those two sat there like plastic dolls. As if Armstrong single handedly made it all work!
No flag on the moon, but Armstrong throws his late daughter's bracelet on the moon. Ridiculous! Also the great historical significance of this event was completely ignored. Instead it was all about Neil and his wife. Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy are good, but Oscars? She may get the supporting actress nod though. Ryan Gosling is a good actor but he is not as effective as I have seen him in other roles. This movie deserves some technical nominations though.
The moon scenes are spectacular. It is like I am right there! It made up (partially) for 90 minutes of boredom. That is why I gave it a 6/10. Otherwise it would have been 3 or 4.
This movie could have been so much better! Damien Chazelle is a gifted director. I wonder what happened to him? How could he go along with something like this? If this movie gets the Best Picture nomination, it could be solely due to name recognition (Chazelle, Gosling).