Enthralling telling of a momentous event in human history

Rating: 9/10 (25 May 2019)

The life of Neil Armstrong. Starts in 1961, with Armstrong as a test pilot and ends, shows the Gemini and Apollo projects and culminates in Armstrong's most famous event: being the first man on the moon.
Directed by Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Whiplash), a great, riveting telling of the man behind and the events leading up to one of the momentous events in human history. Shows incredibly well the development of the NASA space program, the dangers involved, the sacrifices made, the narrow margin for error and the courage and determination involved.
The space flight scenes are incredibly realistic, often putting you in Armstrong's shoes. Even though you know how it is going to end, you're still on the edge of your seat throughout these scenes. Very nerve-wracking, gritty and engaging.
Unfortunately, Chazelle can't replicate this engagement in the Earth-bound scenes, especially the scenes showing Armstrong's home life. The domestic stuff is pretty dull. Some of this is deliberate. Chazelle wants to show Armstrong as cold and calculating and show how this is a positive and negative: what makes him a great astronaut makes him less perfect as a husband and father. It's also a counter-point to the sheer adrenaline rush that is his job.
However, the domestic stuff never leads to any great profundity and ultimately is largely filler. Chazelle could have cut most, if not all, of it out of the movie and we would have had a perfect film.