Can there be just one astronaut’s wife that doesn’t continually lose her
shit.
First Man tells the story of Neil Armstrong, the first man to
walk on the moon. The moon landing occurred in 1969, an event we are
told was watched by 400 million people worldwide. Amazingly, this is
the first biopic about Neil Armstrong that has ever been made. It
comes twenty years after Apollo 13,
the movie about the most disastrous Apollo mission, and even a
couple of years after Hidden Figures the “untold story”
about three obscure NASA mathematicians who happened to be black
women. In a way, First Man’s long
delay is a great illustration of the artistic community’s
disconnect with science and engineering. First Man
probably took so long to get made because Hollywood has no idea what
makes the story interesting. Watching First Man it
is clear that Hollywood still has no idea. Bless them, they
understand the drama of a black woman being unable to use a “white’s
only” bathroom, but a
successful trip to the moon, that is uncharted territory.
It is possible to make an
interesting movie that takes place in space and does justice to the
people involved in the missions. Apollo 13
was a particularly good movie. The Martian
also did a great job. What these movies understand is that science
puzzles and engineering problems when presented with clarity and
acuity can be suspenseful and interesting. First Man
being based on real events that presented engineering problems,
sometimes with fatal
consequences, had a lot of
potential to take this road. What the movie chose to focus on instead
was family drama, most of it probably trumped up, and none of it
deserving to be shown
alongside the extraordinary historic moment
the movie is supposedly celebrating.
Neil Armstrong is played by Ryan
Gosling, who channels his Drive persona
and does a great job in playing someone who historically was
described as calm, quietly brave, and no-nonsense. I expect the real
Neil would approve of the portrayal.
Janet Armstrong, played by Claire Foy, can hardly keep her shit
together. It would be hard for me to imagine the real Janet not being
somewhat offended by her portrayal. The movie, in its misguided
search for drama, decides that Janet’s fears for the safety of her
husband is on the same level of importance as a mission to
walk on the moon for the first time.
She even goes so far as to
berate her husband right before the mission about his cold emotional
stability about the whole thing. I just wanted to shake her and
explain, “Neil is about to WALK ON THE MOON. Your life, children,
and nerves are insignificant bullshit compared to that!” There is
even a segment of the movie that does a tour of the country zoning in
on all the naysayers who thought the moon missions were a waste of
time and money. Why is this here? I saw this movie because I was
interested in Neil Armstrong and Apollo 11. I don’t care what a
bunch of short-sighted idiots think.
First Man was directed by
Damien Chazelle. This is his third feature behind Whiplash
and La La Land.
His first two movies were great movies about music and musicians. I
really have no idea why he chose First Man as
his next project. The direction is competent but lacks interest in
the subject matter. Chazelle seems more interested in Armstrong’s
dead daughter than he does about spaceflight. Surely dead daughters
and fretful wives can be the subject of great films, just not great
films about a man walking on the moon for the first time.
