Out of this world

Rating: 9/10 (21 October 2018)

Movie afternoon with Iris.
First Man is all about understated heroism. It's affecting precisely because Armstrong (played with quiet intensity by Gosling) doesn't feel the continual need to big himself up. This is no Apollo 13, and the study of grief and ongoing loss very affecting.
Claire Foy gives an exceptional performance as Armstrong's wife, Janet, the one always left behind and trying to hold the family together. Cliche maybe, but she brings the role to life. The backdrop of Vietnam, Civil Rights and the Cold War are also expertly woven in.
The testing phase is exhausting, frustrating and very dangerous. The sound of rattling blots and claustrophobia is terrifying. Music is almost as important to First Man as it was to Chazelle's La La Land. The score is both haunting and majestic.
We all know Armstrong made it to the moon, taking "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". But it still generates buckets of suspense. Chazelle throws in footage of JFK's "we choose to go to the moon" and like that, this is inspiring intelligent film-making.