First Man
Posted: October 23rd, 2018, 10:48 am
This film is a biopic of Neil Armstrong, the first man to step onto the moon, played by Ryan Gosling. It touches on all of the obvious waypoints, X-15 pilot, the almost fatal Gemini 8 problem involving a stuck thruster during the first ever in-orbit docking (with an Agena rocket) and the bail-out of from the notorious Lunar Landing Training Vehicle.
Unfortunately I found it a bit of a disappointment. Gosling plays Armstrong completely dead-pan throughout without even a hint of a smile. For me this was the main problem, Armstrong was undoubtedly not one of the extroverts in the program but Gosling allows not the least glimmer of the warmth that Armstrong undoubtedly possessed even if rarely expressed.
Claire Foy makes a reasonable job of playing Armstrong's wife Janet but the film fails to develop any of the other people involved in Armstrong's career with Aldrin and Collins (for example) making only the smallest contributions to the film. A lot of opportunities missed in my opinion.
RC
Unfortunately I found it a bit of a disappointment. Gosling plays Armstrong completely dead-pan throughout without even a hint of a smile. For me this was the main problem, Armstrong was undoubtedly not one of the extroverts in the program but Gosling allows not the least glimmer of the warmth that Armstrong undoubtedly possessed even if rarely expressed.
Claire Foy makes a reasonable job of playing Armstrong's wife Janet but the film fails to develop any of the other people involved in Armstrong's career with Aldrin and Collins (for example) making only the smallest contributions to the film. A lot of opportunities missed in my opinion.
RC