One small step for Damien Chazelle, One giant leap for audiences...

Rating: 8/10 (15 October 2018)

This movie was so good, one of my favourites of the year. Even though you know what will happen (since this is history and all) that doesnt stop there from being tension. Damien Chazelle expertly decides to employ "shakey cam" for these Nasa and space scenes. And its effective. It feels violent, it makes you feel sick and claustrophobic and gives you a good idea just the kind of the crap these men had to go through just in the name of science and progression. The only thing that bothered me (and one of my nitpicks) is that Damien also uses handheld during a lot of the more quieter home scenes. When you're sitting down in a kitchen having a conversation the camera wobbling about was more distracting than anything. My guess is that he wanted it to feel like you were there or maybe even have a documentary feel to it,l but again I felt it distracting in those scenes. And its not like its a small portion of film. I'd say the film is pretty evenly split between nasa/space related scenes and scenes taking place at home. It was moving and even had me questioning towards the middle of the film "Why did they do this again? Was it worth it?" and of course you're reminded when Neil finally lands on the moon "Oh, yeah this is why".
I think it would be criminal for Damien to not be nominated for Best Director. The way the film is shot (minus some of that shaky cam) is beautiful and makes you feel part of the action, and he gets some great performances out of his actors. Ryan Gosling is amazing. He's a little more understated but I think that makes sense with his character. Claire was really good too and my guess for a scene they will choose if she does get nominated for Best Supporting Actress will be the scene where she tells Neil "You better sit down those boys and tell them you might not be coming home". Such a great scene and I wanted to be like "You tell him sister" in my theater. I think its also noteworthy to mention that the score is fantastic and one of the first ones that I actively noticed and paid attention to this year, so I hope that gets some acknowledgement this awards season.
Another nitpick I had though is that this film takes places over about a decade and I felt like they didnt do much to try and age these characters. They looked the same. I think they may have changed Neil's hair slightly towards the end, but otherwise they looked like they hadnt aged a day. Also, they made Buzz out to be a real a-hole in this. I dont know, maybe he was but it rubbed me the wrong way.
But overall I would recommend this film. Its beautiful but also feels gritty and raw.