Riveting and a resilient character study that ultimately delivers

Rating: 8/10 (14 October 2018)

The man walks on the Moon. The man walking on the Moon. Man does a Moon-walk.
Take a moment and think about those phrases. Soon the weight they carry will start to set in. The man, after thousands of years, thriving and evolving on the land we call Earth, has taken a leap forward and reached out successfully to another celestial object, the prominent presence for countless nights gone by and to further come, the Moon. First Man tells the tale that has great significance on us, humans, and our unquenchable thirst to travel beyond our home, but more than anything, it is a character study on one common man, the pre-mission life story of Neil shedding light on how the greatest space venture of all time in human history was not quite the smooth sailing, and the demons lurking in the backyard had to be faced before the baby steps on Moon was to be realized.
Played by Ryan Gosling, the biopic is a slow burner that if follows the routine event-by-event procedure, does so with sections of precursors skillfully mixed in that keeps the narrative of the movie going along. It is almost done to near perfection that once the curtains are about to be drawn out, there is an immense feeling of satisfaction and a tinge of awe raining down. This is something that Director Damien Chazelle has masterfully knit together and highly merges with the stoic performance by Ryan Gosling which is splendidly supported by his wife played by Claire Foy, never shy of highlighting the prevailing gospels. There is a major emphasis put on the programs preceding the mission, all which bring forth setbacks and further challenges, and a bulk of the movie ponders over whether the dream can actually be realized and showcases the personal challenges for Neil and his family. The social commentary, public perspectives and the usage of old clips are kept minimal and in little abundance but enough to infuse the sense of a real life drama but props to the level-heading acting of the cast that brilliantly pulls through.
The two space-faring contemporaries at the time at the height of their competition with subsequent ventures that would change the whole world. But this look at American programs from the Gemini to the Apollo missions are realized from the perspective of the astronomers and not how the world viewed it as. The stern defiance to the eye-popping visuals and the grandiose appeal a space drama expects to have, Damien Chazelle instead gives us a riveting realism of human wishful requirement demanding to break-through, not completely reliant on a sense of patriotism.
That is not to say that the film isn't patriotic enough, the height of competition between the Astronauts and the Cosmonauts definitely is a quench of thirst and the fuel to the engine, but more than that, First Man is about hard work. Getting to the Moon was hard, Director Chazelle makes this gripping piece hard to digest alike. But the fruit, when reaped, is a gift, and when the curtains are about to be drawn on the climax, First Man blows it up. A set of masterful music communicating the monumental first steps, the sporadic visual of the alien surrounding and finally the glimpse of us from afar. The excellent cinematography and the visions of Director Chazelle crafts a beautiful climax. Infused with moments of silence with imagery that convey the message better than anything. A momentary dive into something new and when it snaps, we're back to the reality. I felt like this was such a masterful execution that is at the height of the movie and is the fruit to the audience that is awaiting it. Damien Chazelle makes sure not to delve too deep and when the dream is realized, there is a great feeling of triumph.
"One small step for a man, one giant leap for Mankind." First Man delivers to that noteworthy remark and is a look back on one of the important and earmarked missions for humanity to voyage deep into space.