Man oh man has it been a while since I've blogged! Hello long lost friends! It's so good of you to visit this blog of mine after so long. Today I will be reviewing the new Ryan Gosling flick, First Man. It's officially Oscar bait season and let me tell you... I am here for it! This is my favorite time of year because there are so many great films to spend my money on! Who could ask for more? Anywho I think I've rambled on long enough... LET'S GET STARTED.
PLOT:
First Man tells the story of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) from his early days as an astronaut to the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. Neil is first introduced at home with his family including his wife, Janet (Claire Foy) and his two children. Neil is very close to his daughter who we soon learn has a brain tumor. She shortly passes away and this has a great effect on Neil. He almost doesn't know how to recover. He learns of the NASA program that plans on putting us on the moon. He signs up and makes the team. He puts all his focus on his work, determined to get to the moon.
The film follows him on his journey from the early days of training to that monumental day of July 20, 1969. The story shows his experience down on Earth as well as in space. It explores his different relationships with his wife, with his friends, with his colleagues, and how each plays a part in his life.
REVIEW:
This film was directed by one of the most recent great directors, Damien Chazelle. You may know him from such movies as Whiplash and almost Best Picture winner, La La Land ( you know I had to mention it). I really admire this director. I've loved all of his films so far and I think he's very creative and a great storyteller. All of his films seem to have a different feel to them, a different tone. I think that makes one a good director because sometimes a director can get stuck in a specific style to where their films become stale. Chazelle has only directed three major motion pictures and each one has been really great. I look forward to his future films because based on his past work I'm sure I'll like them.
Now this may upset some people but I am a Gosling gal (sorry Ryan Reynolds fans... that's not to say that I don't like him too, I just like Gosling a bit more). I think with each film and each performance he gets better and better. I've liked him since his early days... does anyone remember him from Remember the Titans? So good. This may shock some people but I have actually never seen The Notebook (not a Nicholas Sparks fan at all) so I'm not counting that when I say the guy is a good actor. Each film he does he just seems to become more confident in his acting abilities and he seems so comfortable on the screen. He has a real screen presence and can carry a film. In this film, Neil Armstrong isn't a particularly likable character, he's always serious, no sense of humor, he doesn't spend much time with his family, can be brash but you still pull for him, you want him to succeed. I think this is due to Gosling's performance. He doesn't shy away from the ugly side. When we think of Neil Armstrong we think of pioneer, legend. In this film and with Gosling's performance we're shown the other side of the man, the not so great side. We see how the death of his daughter affects him, we see his relationship with his other children and his wife, we see it all. It was a very interesting look and take on this man that we all probably thought we knew but actually didn't. I do think Ryan Gosling will get nominated for an Oscar, not just because he gives a good performance but because the Oscars love it when actors play historical figures.
I spent a lot of time talking about Ryan Gosling but I'd also like to talk about Claire Foy or as fans of The Crown know her, the Queen. I love Claire Foy. I'm just going to come out and say it, I think she's great. She was in one of my favorite movies of the year, an underrated flick that you all should see, Unsane. She's just great, she's versatile, emotional, she just captures the screen every time she's on. I was first introduced to her as I'm sure many of us were with The Crown where I just instantly fell in love. I'm sad that she no longer will be playing the queen but I'm so glad that she's getting more movie roles because she's a star in my opinion. You best believe when Girl in the Spider's Web comes out that I will be seeing that and reviewing it so you have that to look forward to. I really hope she gets nominated for this performance because she does such a great job, she should be recognized. Although she doesn't have a ton of screen time, each scene she's in is just so great. You can see the struggle she goes through to support her husband on this dangerous journey while also trying to take care of the kids. There's an emotional balance she's playing, you can see she's distraught in some scenes and you think she'll just tip over the scale but she has to keep it together for both Neil and her children. I'm probably totally biased but I just loved her in this movie and I will probably see everything she's in, she's just that good of an actress.
Now I hardly talk about cinematography and camera work although I did touch on it a bit in my last review but I can't talk about this movie and not mention it. I felt the camera in this movie. That is rare for me, I almost never notice the camera work because I'm so invested in the story, but in this movie the cinematography makes such a statement it's hard not to notice. That's not to say it's bad, in fact I thought it was great for what they were trying to achieve, it did frustrate me,however. The whole movie was close-up shots. There was also a lot of camera movement, hardly any steady cam was used. It almost made me feel claustrophobic because they hardly took it away from the close ups. However, I think this claustrophobic feeling was intentional and I respect the director's choice. I noticed while watching that when the film takes place on Earth it's almost all close ups but when they're in space it's wide shots. Now I know what you're thinking, of course the space sequences are wide shots, it's space. But I think there was a purpose to these choices. I think they were used as a way to describe Neil's feelings. When Neil is on Earth and at home he feels constricted, heavy with sorrow about his daughter's loss hence all the close ups. However, when he's in space he feels light, free, that's where he wants to be hence the wide shots. There's an interesting juxtaposition between these shots and I thought they did a great job of telling the larger story.
Another interesting aspect about the camera work is that this movie was shot on film. At least the Earth parts were which gave it that vintage feel, like we were in the 60s. It had a really cool effect on the viewing experience. I did enjoy this movie, however, some parts of it were a bit slow. It makes sense though for it to be slow because this is telling the story of his journey to the moon which took years. It's a slow process. However, you still want to know what happens to these characters, how this major event affects their lives and I think this film plays well to that.
PARENT'S GUIDE:
There is some cussing in this movie but other than that it's good. It does get loud and there are some stressful parts. This movie is rated PG-13 so it's up to you parentals.
OVERALL RATING:
For this film I will give it a...
First Man: 7/10
I gave it this rating because although I did enjoy it, it was a bit slow in parts. Also the camera work made me claustrophobic in some instances. Other than that I thought it was a really great movie with some fantastic performances.
CONCLUSION:
I think I've said enough, don't you? As always thank you so much for taking the time to read this blog. I hope you enjoyed it and that I didn't completely waste your time. Please make sure to leave me a comment or suggestion and tell your friends! Until next time!
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