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FILM: First Man (Spoilers)


The Illustrious Jerry

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FIRST MAN 

Review by Jerry

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To start, First Man was also the first movie to get me out of the house this year that didn’t take refuge under the Star Wars name. However, it was probably my favorite space adventure yet. Although I the theatres was packed with stereotypical engineering students, old couples looking for a flick, and disgruntled Star Wars fans who still want to fly amongst the stars without having association with Kathleen Kennedy, I thought it was one of the better visits. Prime time on a Saturday evening and the lines were non-existent. Fate was on my side. I sat through way too many commercials and trailers, the sum runtime of which was about a third of the film itself. Oh well, let’s dim the lights and get started. 

 

The film starts off with a frantic scene. Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) is breaking into space on a X-15 jet. The camerawork is no straight and steady La La Land. It’s jittery, quick, constant, and almost unviewable. But yet it captures the suspense better than anything else could. The contrast between those shots and the moment where Neil emerges to sit above the clouds is perfect. His pen floats upward in a surreal nod- he's in space. But what comes up must come down. It’s time for the hard part. 

 

The film does an excellent job of making the audience feel that almost nostalgic space mission feeling. The feeling you get when a crackly intercom cuts in- “Neil, you’re bouncing of the atmosphere.” - is quite enough frightening as it is.  

 

The movie has a lot to do with the personal and family life of the Armstrongs. Their daughter passes away early in the movie due to a tumor, and her passing weighs heavily on the whole family, particularly Neil, throughout the entire film. It’s a very poignant scenario. 

 

There is some slight humor- the theatre gave some laughs when the team of astronauts, shirts stained with vomit from an earlier high-intensity test, must do 605 pages of reading. There are a few other nice moments, adding limited balance to an otherwise morose tale. 

 

The film is very sad, very high-stakes, no shortage of tragedy, but still all part of the grand journey to mankind landing on the moon. Some grim scenes are quite well done (they are able to say everything the need to with out showing everything that happened)- the failed plug-in test of Apollo 1, where a fire quickly sparks and spreads throughout the cramped quarters. The actual height of it is shown from outside, with the hatch bending inwards in a sudden explosion.  

 

As for historical and general accuracy and portrayal of characters, I thought that everything played out very well, with perhaps one moment being a little too Hollywood-evoked (at the same time I am not sure if it is true or not, so it could be real).  

 

For the lack of gravity you’d expect to find, it’s actually quite a heavy film, with oft-silent sullen emotion. Armstrong seems to keep to himself but does have a few moments alone where he is able to get in a few sobs. It’s really quite a moving experience. 

 

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On that note, Justin Hurwitz’s score must be addressed. His riff motif, which is primary in the End Credits and can be easily identified in the OST track Another Egghead, is quite effective, albeit simple. It was very catchy and used mostly in the first half of the film. The family theme, which is pretty much the main theme, is often whirred on the whimsical theremin, whose other worldliness is fitting. Some moments in the score also give a great feeling of the mystery of the unknown in space itself.  

 

The most rousing statement of the main theme is no doubt in the track The Landing- a piece that draws forth so many emotions it was hard to contain myself. I sat with a pensive expression, fingers splayed over my mouth, attempting to hold back the inevitable waterworks. The scene, paired perfectly with the score (of whose power was outstanding in the moment), brought me straight to tears. The achievement of mankind put in the perspective of the one man who made the final step. That’s the idea of the movie. While many lives were lost and many others worked tirelessly to get ahead of the competition in space innovation, we follow the one man who makes the small step, although with a heavy burden, in order to propel humans on Earth beyond what was thought to be possible.  

 

Director Damien Chazelle organizes another bittersweet ending. While Neil may have made the greatest accomplishment in the history of mankind, he still is a human who has felt loss. He touches the glass that separates himself in post-mission quarantine from his wife on the other side. It’s touching but all the while fulfilling. 

 

To wrap things up, it was a very enjoyable film- well-shot, well-acted, and a great story basis. I highly recommend it.

 

CONSENSUS: 4.5/ 5 stars

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I was ultimately underwhelmed by both, to be frank. Neither would top any lists for me this year. Though music-wise, it has been a bit of dry spell.

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To my husband and I it was a mediocre film. I found the film forrgettable  score. Classic this is not. My boss liked it a lot more than us.

 

Jerry history does not know for sure it that incident happened or not but what is known is Armstrong did go off script from the plan and the opportunity was there for it to happen. He did walk to the crater's edge.

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On October 15, 2018 at 4:53 PM, JoeinAR said:

Jerry history does not know for sure it that incident happened or not but what is known is Armstrong did go off script from the plan and the opportunity was there for it to happen. He did walk to the crater's edge.

Thanks.

 

I'm interested. My film and score opinions are often very different from others or even just the general consensus. What I picked up from snippets of conversations as I left the theatre was very good reception. I really did love the movie, but I'm already a big Chazelle and Hurwitz fan, so some bias is present. Neat to see these opinions.

 

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I'm glad you enjoyed it Jerry. Nothing better than finding a film that really resonates with you. Lord knows that's becoming harder and harder to find these days. Though it was not really the case with me, I did think it was a well-made drama.

 

Shame to hear that First Man hasn't been doing that great in the box office though.

 

1 hour ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

 

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Darkest Hour

Incredibles 2

etc.

and now this.

 

Forgot about Solo. Yea, that's a good one.

 

Jurassic World was forgettable bombast. Darkest Hour was from last year. But yeah, Incredibles 2 was also pretty solid.

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18 hours ago, JoeinAR said:

Jerry history does not know for sure it that incident happened or not but what is known is Armstrong did go off script from the plan and the opportunity was there for it to happen. He did walk to the crater's edge.

Did you read the authorized biography that this film is based on to know this indeed did not happen?  I'll start reading it next week so will report back.  The book "First Man" was authorized by Neil so if it's in there, it happened.  Watch this:

 

I do feel they did not understand the persona of Neil Armstrong or the other key players like Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins but this is Neil's story.

 

Spoiler

@The Illustrious Jerry by the way, you might want to put "Spoiler" in the title of this thread since you do give away a very emotional ending which may or may not be true. 

 

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19 hours ago, KK said:

I'm glad you enjoyed it Jerry. Nothing better than finding a film that really resonates with you. Lord knows that's becoming harder and harder to find these days. Though it was not really the case with me, I did think it was a well-made drama.

Very good. Thank you.

19 hours ago, KK said:

Forgot about Solo. Yea, that's a good one.

 

Jurassic World was forgettable bombast. Darkest Hour was from last year. But yeah, Incredibles 2 was also pretty solid.

Yes, kind of no, whoops, and absolutely. 

18 hours ago, karelm said:

Did you read the authorized biography that this film is based on to know this indeed did not happen?  I'll start reading it next week so will report back.  The book "First Man" was authorized by Neil so if it's in there, it happened.  

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Cool. And yes I can do that @karelm.

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