Amazing

Rating: 9/10 (28 October 2018)

First Man Review:
First Man stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, and the events leading up to it. I was super excited for this movie because Damien Chazelle has directed two of my favorite movies of all time: Whiplash and La La Land. I watched it for the first time this past Thursday and I liked it, but I had some issues with it. I just watched it again last tonight and just loved it! What I loved about this story is that it's more about him and his family rather than the mission in movies like Apollo 13. It's also a slow paced movie, which I like those kinds of movies too. It makes it feel more like this is real life happening right now. There were only a few spots where it was a little too slow. It's also a bit of a long movie but I didn't mind it. I thought it was cool that it created so much suspense even though we knew what was going to happen. Critics are really loving this movie but people seem to think it's just ok. I can only assume that they were expecting a film with more action and faster paced (I'll put down critic and audience scores below). The performances were amazing. Claire Foy is an amazing actress and her portrayal of Janet Armstrong was some of her best work. Some may think Ryan Gosling was monotone and boring in it but it can clearly be seen that he's been through a lot. The story includes the plot that their daughter, Karen, died at a very young age. I never knew about this and that's one of the things I loved about the film. It showed more to the story rather if it were just about the mission. But Neil was going through so much and he was very depressed. The mission took a toll on him. The story, as I was mentioning, showed us new things. People think Buzz Aldrin was an amazing person but he really wasn't. There's a scene where the family is all sitting down and they have to discuss that Neil may not come back that was really scene. There's something that happens on the moon in the scene and I don't know if it was true, but if it was it was one of the most beautiful moments in the movie. I found the astronaut training to be interesting. The last moments of the film where amazing. There's was no talking but there was so much to be said. The film has a lot of silent moments that I felt helped. The score by Justin Hurwitz was amazing as usual. He won his Oscars for La La Land in the categories of Best Original Score and Best Original Song (City of Stars). The score had a lot of calm moments, which I loved. During the intense moments had great music. There was one part during the Gemini 8 mission where it sounded like a symphony and it was beautiful. The the best part of the score was when they were on the moon. Damien Chazelle did amazing with his directing. He is my favorite directing as of now. He's a great writer and a wonderful director. He's won one Oscar, nominated for two others, and won two Golden Globes. He knows how to write well and puts that writing to the screen beautifully. I liked the editing for the film, although there was one spot towards the beginning where it was a little awkward. The cinematography was great. Linus Sandgren won his Oscar for La La Land and I can see him gagging nominated for this one. There were four shots on Earth just of the moon that I loved. They weren't really focused or anything but they were beautiful. This isn't a space film like Gravity where people were hyped for the special effects. They are good but they didn't need to be anything amazing. There was only one part where it was not that great but it only lasted for 10 seconds. This is a great film that seems to be overlooked with the big releases of late. Over the weekend it only made 16 million and I expected it to make more after all of the anticipation but I guess not. Definitely see this movie. It's great and you won't be disappointed! (Also the talk about the scene with the American flag not being on the moon is false. It's there if you look)
My Grade: A-
Rotten Tomatoes: 88% (certified fresh)
IMDb: 7.7/10
MetaScore: 84
Audiences: 62%