A brilliant alternative take on the race to the moon isolated to the vantage of Neil Armstrong

Rating: 8/10 (27 October 2018)

The winds of change are upon us. Having just watched Coopers A Star Is Born and then First Man it's obvious there is a still a market receptive to great acting and the talent out there to deliver. First Man doesn't fall short in beautifully integrated special effects. From the opening sequence right thru to the end, what makes this film special is it's attention to the first person while the CGI supports that storyline without dwarfing it. Like Coopers Star is Born, the scenes don't feel rushed. If a character close up needs some extra hanging screen time it was allowed. At over two hours I am sure there was pressure to cut the length and the editing suite and director deserve cudos for standing their ground. Watching the movie you never feel like it's slow going or trite. Neil Armstrong is presented as a classic Fifties Dad and working man. the character carries with him a heroic legacy that Ryan Gosling simple steps past to give us an intensely human portrayal of the man, his struggles and the costs to his family as a whole. It feels like it comes from a better time, a celebration - albeit controversial one - of the American ideal. Even though the Russia vs United States race for space supremacy is included in the film, it's portrayed from the first astronauts perspective. The impact of a soviets first space walk or orbit and how that re-jockeyed the astronaut rotation to see Neil eventually touch the moons surface. I hope that's not a spoiler. There are hints of that pilot bravado echoed from The Right Stuff, these space pioneers and risk takers were all motivated to do the job at their very best. They knew they carried the hopes of a nation. They all kept the nasty internal stuff at bay and delivered to a public tired of bad newsreels a higher loftier goal that rallied a nation then beaten down by questionable wars and volatile politics. Politics were left out of this tightly well written and directed film. The small set details are authentic as were the awesome wardrobe choices. Red ball caps were popular at the time which unfortunately now carry some of the current political brand sovereignty, Norman Rockwell would approve but given today's editing tech it might have been nice to recolour that now iconic cap out of the film. The capsules were great, without looking into it further they look to be the real thing, like they were loaned out by the Smithsonian for filming. The only drawback is they look a little tired for their time, showing a wear or tatter that at the time would have been the opposite. Although primitive in nature, the technology would have been pristinely clean. Perhaps the decision to use more dirtied equipment was to exaggerate the simplicity of the mechanical contraptions that these brave men strapped themselves into. This would have been the pinnacle of our technology at the time and the films big creaking steel submarine passage like capsule doors and murky cabins feel out of place. It would have been super clean and although simple, would have felt new. Neil's homes party line double ring was a nice touch. When some of the summers blockbusters rely heavily on CGI and extreme fight sequences it's refreshing to have sat thru a couple great fall yarns that were knit with care.