Stark, claustrophobic and real

Rating: 9/10 (11 June 2020)

Bemused at the reviews of "boring" or "too long". This is not Apollo 13 or The Right Stuff, and is not meant to be. It is a character study based on a book James R Hansen which is a biography of Neil Armstrong, rather than a story of the moon landing per se. Of course the movie is going to show the moon landing, and the events which lead up to it, but these are just part of what the movie is about.
We see how hard it is to be a test pilot then astronaut. The launches and flights are seen from Neil's perspective, his visceral experience of being on top of a missile smashing into space. These scenes are not spectacular, in the Apollo 13 sense, but dark, claustrophobic, noisy and confusing, like it really was. A lot of people who perhaps were brought up on super-hero Hollywood movies cannot seem to relate to the portrayal an actual human being matter of factly doing things which are so far beyond normal. So we have the usual morons complaining about the fact that Armstrong doesn't smile enough or have anything witty to say while he is fighting for his life, you know, like they do in the movies. This level of immature stupidity is beyond my ken, so I'll just say just don't watch it. Keep to Star trek or Iron Man or whatever.
If you do appreciate what real people do in real life, warts and all, you will hopefully appreciate this starkly dry portrayal of a man who has all the flaws of you and me, but who also just happens to repeatedly face life threatening situations and find solutions to them on the fly. Armstrong is shown as an introverted man of few words and not particular friendly. But he has extraordinary coolness under extreme pressure. That's why he was chosen as the first man.
On a philosophical side note, it is not unusual for a truly great man of history to be reviled by the ankle biters of his day. There are whole industries of historians who specialize in trying to bring down the great to their own wormlike size, and I have no doubt this is or will happen to Armstrong. But unlike pretty much everyone living today, his name will be known a thousand years from now.
The movie portrays a real marriage, so unlike what is normal in Hollywood that it seems to be a shock to a lot of people. Maybe they don't have wives, I don't know. I certainly could relate to one or two exchanges between Neil and his wife Janet. Clare Foy portrays her as a sweet but strong woman. What it would have been like for her to hear her husband on the intercom say "We're in trouble" I don't know.
This movie is almost fly on the wall documentary when it comes to the rocket scenes, and kitchen sink stage drama when it comes to the personal stuff. I'm not a fan of Ryan Gosling, but he is convincing here. He really does a great portrayal of Neil Armstrong.