Great Filmmaking but not Oscar-worthy

Rating: 6/10 (14 October 2018)

I've always thought there needed to be a sequel to "The Right Stuff". That movie followed the Mercury program, the first step to getting to the moon. It was an exciting and fun "you are there" inside look into events that occurred and the people involved. Finally we have a movie that picks up with the Gemini and Apollo programs and gives us a first hand glimpse of what it was like going to the moon.
However, while "The Right Stuff" was an ensemble narrative, focusing on the bigger picture, "First Man" is a very personal look at Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. While the other film spent time showing a lot of details of the space program, that time instead is spent showing Armstrong with his family. The movie's real narrative is about how Armstrong hid his personal demons from other people. If this was a fictional character, there would probably be a scene where all those upsets that he kept inside come out in some dramatic way. But this film, the only apparent consequence is that his wife demands he opens up.
Gosling seems to be a natural for introverted characters and works well. But there was one thing from the outset that prevented me from really enjoying this movie. Shaky Cam. I remember the time when "Bourne Supremacy" came out. It was a time where filming trends had turned to shaky cam to give the impression that it was more like a documentary and feel more authentic. The down-side is there are people out there like me that are sensitive to motion sickness, and the exaggerated shaking seen on the large screen easily induces nausea. Within the first couple minutes where I realised nearly the entire film was going to be shaky, I had to move farther back from the screen. Even then, with the majority of the framing being extreme close-ups, I had to look away a few times to keep my stomach under control. I was extremely disappointed they chose to film using this overrated and outdated style of cinematography. Latest trends have the majority of a film like this being shot Handheld, but without deliberately bouncing the camera all over the place. Handheld camera operators are capable of shooting very smooth shots, and capture the action without calling attention to itself. There was an interesting technical flaw that I was able to catch while watching this film on the large screen (not real Imax, but the Minimax featured at the AMC theater near me). I could see dirt and hairs in some shots. Real film not digital! It was a nice reminder of how dirt on films was accepted like it was in the 70s. On the other hand, I wonder if the camera assistant was checking the gate properly.
One other nitpick is the lack of factual accuracy when it comes to what happened in the NASA space program. There are times that Neil seems to be the subject of attention (as if he's the one in charge) to the expense of the other fellow astronauts. At times it felt a little frustrating that the film would not show major events outside of Armstrong's perspective. As for all those scenes with the family, Claire Foy does a fine job as his wife. There are moments of family time that seem derivative of "The Tree of Life". I usually groan when films go over 2 hours, however the subject matter for First Man is so deep, it could easily run 3 hours to cover the many major aspects of the space program.
One thing that stands out is the use of sound design. There are moments during the launch or flight that a loud cacophony of sounds scream out of the speakers. Some of these sounds are intentionally meant to be scary haunted house type of sounds. Including the sounds of screams, moans, and eery wind howls blended into the mix. Again, in the name of factual accuracy, were there really such spooky sounds happening? On the other hand, those sound effects do a great job of adding tension during the test flight scenes, which are very exhilarating.
In the end the whole is equal to the sum of it's parts. Not greater or lesser. It definitely wants to get Oscar attention, but I doubt it will be a front runner. It achieves what it sets out to do, and tries to explain Neil Armstrong's psyche as he went through the space program. In real life, Armstrong never revealed his thoughts and reaction to being the first human to take the first step toward reaching the stars. This film probably feels required to give us some private insight of what Armstrong was thinking while on the moon, but it is probably not accurate.