Depressing portrayal of a monumental achievement

Rating: 3/10 (22 July 2019)

This is a depressing look at a real-life historical achievement and the first man to land on the moon. It is too bad that the movie was made by people that are too young to understand and convey the times, the emotions or the reasons that the United States embarked on the space program with the goal of sending, landing and returning men to the moon and back.
Ryan Gosling is almost adequate in the role of Neil Armstrong. Unfortunately, the script is written to make Neil look like a moody, humorless soul who for years is on the brink of clinical depression. This was NOT an accurate portrayal of the real Neil Armstrong. He was a brilliant, brave, conservative, soft-spoken man with humility, wit and charm. His many interviews were usually filled with smiles and optimism but that is not the way he is portrayed in First Man.
The visual effects are generally good but they don't make up for a poor script that denies any sense of patriotism and the importance of the Apollo program in the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
The sound is very uneven in clarity and levels. Much of the music - especially during the lunar landing - is loud, awkward and unnecessary.
In all, not a very good film made by pretentious people who think they know how to tell a story. Documentaries about Apollo 11 aired on the History, Smithsonian Channel and CBS are much better.