As a fan of anything to do with space travel, First Man was a movie that I was very excited for. First Man has been generating a lot of buzz and even when it was first shown to the media there was s Oscar buzz around it.
How to Stream or Download First Man
First Man (2018) can be streamed or it can be downloaded from iTunes. To begin, click on the button below the review. If you like the movies about the moon… well perhaps you should be tempted to have a look at Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). If you like movies about space travel – try Interstellar (2014). And if you like biographical movies, check out The Greatest Showman (2017) or Sully (2016).
The Film Review
It is so easy to say that First Man is just the story of Neil Armstrong and NASA’s first manned mission to the moon. While that is arguably the easiest way to describe what First Man is. Saying just that is doing the movie a huge, huge disservice.
The role of Neil Armstrong is played by Ryan Gosling and his performance is amazing. He plays two sides of Neil Armstrong so very well. You have the super focused, willing to do anything to make the mission a success Neil Armstrong.
Yet, you also have Neil Armstrong the family man, the man who loves his wife, kids and who is trying his best to deal with a real tragedy. His wife, Janet is played by Claire Foy and she is every bit as good as Gosling. It would have been so easy for this movie to play Janet Armstrong as nothing more than “Neil Armstrong’s wife” she though gives us a much stronger performance than that.
The dynamic between the two as she realizes how dangerous this mission is and how devoted to it Neil is really is tough to watch (I mean that in a very complimentary way) and she really does nail it. First Man is a very emotional movie and in my opinion, it is because they picked the right two main leads and the two of them could not have done a better job.
The trouble with a biopic like this is that you kind of already know the ending. Still, First Man manages to create some real drama and some very tense scenes. I really wish I made the effort to see this in the movie theatre as I bet some of the space scenes look amazing on the big screen.
Of course, there are supporting roles and for me, the most notable two are Ed White who is played by Jason Clarke and Buzz Aldrin who is played by Corey Stoll. One of the most amazing things about Buzz Aldrin in this movie is that he is not actually in it a whole bunch, but the performance from Stoll certainly leaves a strong impression. He has this dry humor to him and it works with the rest of the movie very well.
I really cannot say enough good things about First Man. It is a movie that had me hooked from the very begging. It is more about the man Neil Armstrong than the guy who first stepped on the moon and I think that is why it is such a fantastic movie. It is full of heart, suspense and the performances from the two leads are some of the best performances I have seen in a very long time. Make sure you check this one out!
