Biopic of Neil; Not Intended to be like Apollo 13

Rating: 9/10 (3 May 2020)

To set, I loved the movie, "Apollo 13," which was interesting and edge of your seat action packed. I really liked the movie, "Martian," which was fun and quickly paced. I "just" liked the movie, "Gravity," which was slower, but incredibly well made. Apollo 13 is one of those movies I can watch over and over. Martian I can re-watch a half a dozen times or so on a Sunday to kill time. Gravity is a 1-2 time watch for me. The pace of "First Man" sits with Gravity, moves like Martian, but ignites the same feelings as Apollo 13. It's not re-watchable over and over. Yet, I found this movie, that I watched solely for Ryan Gosling and because of my mild interest in space movies, as intense as Apollo 13 and as well made as all of the other 3, or even better.
To be clear, this movie is based on a book whose author was led by Neil Armstrong himself. It was further directed with the help and input of Neil's children and family. It's accurate. It's not a movie about "landing on the moon." It's a movie about Neil.
The complaints in other reviews are what I find to be the best parts of the film. The super close up camera work, the sometimes jiggly, where we can't see anything that they themselves didn't see in flight, are things that make this movie believable and genuinely authentic.
A lot of the excerpts in the film are REAL recordings of reporters-it is authentic in every single way. It's a little slow in parts, and the acting makes Neil seem boring. But the acting is incredible and again, genuine.