Not Boring, Just Joyless

Rating: 7/10 (20 January 2019)

First Man must of course be compared to Apollo 13, the best movie that has ever been done about the space program. Unlike that movie, there is no joy here whatsoever. Neil Armstrong is portrayed as a man forever haunted by the death of his little girl. As my wife noted, both he and his wife need grief counseling. There are some excellent set pieces such as the near disasters in the LEM trainer and Gemini 8 as well as the almost disastrous moon landing. But after this great achievement we are left with Neil Armstrong in quarantine, still with a flat affect, unable to even say hello to his wife.
Technically, the film effectively recreates the feeling of 1960s culture and the space program. But unlike Apollo 13, Mission Control looks pretty stripped down. The other astronauts, like Neil Armstrong himself, have no personality and are hardly identified. Those with even bit parts in Apollo 13 are clearly identified and memorable. The only exception is Neil's close friend Ed White who dies in the Apollo 1 fire.