Languid pacing, shaky cam, forgettable melodramatic Oscar push

Rating: 1/10 (19 October 2018)

This is a depressing, slog of a film about what many thought was a great achievement. I'm not sure what the point of this film was supposed to be. So the First Man wasn't very nice, wasn't a good family man, was consumed by his mission... then what's the real need to see his story and for a long time covering it? You don't learn very much about the other characters and family members either and you can dispose of them after the credits roll and forget about them and this film.
The ending felt very rushed. Too much time was spent chasing the Oscar winning family interchange with long emotional stares to capture 'a special moment of contemplation.' Imagine creating a Michael Jordan biography and it taking an hour of middling exposition about someone not very interesting to finally get to the part where the basketball begins to be the primary focus of the story. And then when it comes times to watch the games, it's done on shaky cam to make the experience 'feel real.'
The super close up camerawork felt obnoxious and unsettling. I'm at a loss to understand why this was done and so often. I'm also sure Buzz Aldrin wasn't too thrilled about he was portrayed.
The cinematography is fine and there were redeeming moments. But paying $20 to see this film and on the IMAX (which actually made watching this film and especially the CLOSE UPS look worse) was not a good experience at all.
An easily forgettable film.