First Man - Why The Shakes?

Rating: 7/10 (28 May 2019)

I expected First Man to be first class - yes, it was interesting and often involving but with so many cheap hand held shots all being filmed with close-up lenses or a zoom set in full-tight frame it became a nauseous experience. Big images shaking all over the screen for such a long running time hardly helped endear this epic to the viewer - pity those who may have seen it in IMAX or 3D!. Some scenes tended to be stretched till interest became strained, with much of the emotion being lost before the next sequence began. Were the NASA Toilets truly as dirty as these were portrayed - adding health risks for these important men? (talk about space program budget restraints!) It was interesting to learn a little more about the personal lives but these scenes too, were a little heavy-handed at times. On the plus side, some performances were credible and when the camera was put on a tripod we got some nice looking vistas. The Award winning music score helped add some emotional high spots without being overbearing. Good to be able to actually read the end credit crawl with descent sized lettering for a change - this time, that portion of the budget was well spent.