Welcome back to Sound Off!, a semi-regular column where members of Speculative Chic gather together to chat about the latest BIG THING in entertainment. This time, race to the moon with First Man, which premiered in the United States on Friday, October 12, 2018.
Sound Off! is meant to be a reaction, but not necessarily a review. After all, while we are all individuals, even mutual love of something (or hate) can come from different places: you may find everything from critique to fangirling to maybe even hate-watching.
Now, join J.L. Gribble as she talks about First Man. [Note: Spoiler-free!]
J.L.: Full disclosure: I’m a total space nerd. Was going to be an astronaut when I grew up. Obsessed over the space shuttle. The full works. Of course I was going to see a movie about the first man to step foot on the moon, and I’m reviewing it for Speculative Chic because I think the history of space flight is an integral part of what creates the allure of science-fiction into the modern day.
This film had stunning visuals, from the story’s opening scene of an upper-atmosphere flight during Neil Armstrong’s test pilot days to the Mercury and Apollo program launches later in the film. The director and cinematographer often chose to focus, literally, on the nuts and bolts of the spacecraft, along with emphasizing how launches are ridiculously shaky rather than the smoothness of most futuristic SF. It truly underscored how primitive these tin cans that NASA strapped onto bombs were, and I appreciated the line of dialogue that reminded the audience how at this point in time, humanity was only a few decades out from developing flight itself. This was also the first movie in a long time to make me feel the need to acquire the musical score for myself.
First Man is a bio-pic not only of Neil Armstrong but also on the race to the moon itself. The plot structure hit good plot points from the intertwining narratives that still created an interesting story for people familiar with this aspect of history. The pacing occasionally felt slow, especially in scenes that focused on Armstrong’s character. Ryan Gosling portrays him as a brilliant man who has difficulty connecting with his family, especially after personal tragedy, but his quiet intensity often brought down the tone of his heroic exploits. In contrast, Claire Foy’s characterization of Janet Armstrong enlivened every scene she was in, and Corey Stoll’s snarky Buzz Aldrin really made me curious about the interpersonal relationships between the men stuck in those tin cans together for days at a time.
Though this movie is clearly Oscar bait, there was plenty to enjoy from an historical perspective. It must be mentioned, however, that this is no Hidden Figures. With the focus on Neil Armstrong and his family and compatriots, the movie is very much about the white men and their wives who our nation selected as those eligible to take such a journey. I hope that future firsts, and the people who accomplish them, represent the true diversity found in our country and world.
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