"First Man" is an Engaging, Powerful Drama With a Great Performance from Ryan Gosling
By: Keaton Marcus
Genre/Drama
Age Rating/11+
Lemonradar/88% sweet
So, What’s the Story?
Hi, this is Keaton Marcus from Sweet and Sour Movie Reviews and today I will be reviewing the incredible true story of Neil Armstrong, First Man. After a negative mission test, Neil Armstrong is relieved of his duty, but when he notices the news that Nasa is recruiting astronauts for the mission Gemini, whose aim is to put the first men on the Moon. Nasa starts to notice Armstrong’s natural leader instincts and they put him in charge of the mission, though seeing how many brave men have died in space-related accidents, will Neil be up for the most important in history?
How Was The Cast?
In this brilliant retelling of the incredible true story, the film benefits from a hard-working, top-tier cast including Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, Claire Foy as Janet Armstrong, Jason Clarke as Edward White and Kyle Chandler as Deke Slayton. As I said we saw actor Ryan Gosling known for La La Land, Gangster Squad, Drive, The Nice Guys, The Big Short, Blade Runner 2049 etc. After his sophisticated performances in the last couple years in Blade Runner 2049 and La La Land, the audiences clearly needed more from the somewhat “hot streak” that Gosling was pulling off, and now within his career we have seen the actor do many things, singing, driving and shooting (alot) but never become an astronaut, which he is very successful at, and while there have been more exciting performances by Ryan Gosling, the actor thrives at a more quiet, simple part that Neil Armstrong is with a solid script, a wonderful deep dive into what the man’s life was really like and just such a breezy, calm and serious charisma which so deftly represents what the character was actually like; On the whole Gosling delivered one of his most deep performances of his above-average career. Secondly, we have actress Claire Foy known for Unsane, The Crown, The Lady in the Van, Season of the Witch etc. Although her best performances may be featured on TV and we have seen her terrible performance in Season of the Witch, Foy gives a raw and breathtaking performance of Neil Armstrong’s wife, Janet and really gives the audience a clear understanding of what life was like wondering if their husband will even come back and although her role is not quite the biggest portrayed in the movie, this is a wonderful start for the actress to start climbing to popularity with The Girl in the Spider’s Web being released in a couple weeks and Foy as the main character which clearly represents that after her truly amazing performance in this flick, Hollywood continues to cast her as important characters; Overall First Man was a wonderful new addition to Foy’s already successful career. Thirdly we saw actor Jason Clarke known for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Winchester, Chappaquiddick, Terminator Genisys etc. as Edward White. Looking at his 2018 average, the numbers are pretty mixed standing at a limp 47.5% and clearly, the actor needed another great film to give a solid performance after his confused outing in Winchester earlier this year. However with First Man as a new addition to his career, fans are stable again call Clarke a likeable actor and while this is a very small role accompanied with very few lines and a by-the-numbers script, his appearance ultimately is enough for satisfaction with me, although I would obviously love to see the actor in more complex, sophisticated roles. Lastly we have actor Kyle Chandler known for Argo, Manchester by the Sea, Broken City, King Kong etc. as Deke Slayton. Looking at his career besides a few mess ups along the way including Broken City and The Day the Earth Stood Still, Chandler clearly has a successful career with many solid performances included, and while this is a side-character, Chandler gives his usual sly, serious charisma just enough to call it a good performance which is clearly what the audience’s were looking for and in my opinion, the character is all Chandler needs for a fresh, and amazing new installment in the career.
Is It Worth Your While?
Directing First Man is filmmaker Damien Chazelle known for Whiplash, La La Land, 10 Cloverfield Lane etc. Glancing at Chazelle’s career, although it is still too early to tell, the filmmaker is bound to have a Steven Spielberg-type legacy, with almost every one of his movies are 90-100% which is definitely master-type work, and clearly after seeing his truly powerful, thrilling and raw directing for First Man, that this rookie-streak is not just beginner’s luck. Also, with a surrounding talented cast delivering brilliant performances, many beautifully filmed scenes and just a thrilling, dramatic tale of Neil Armstrong, First Man completely succeeds, quickly becoming one of the best films of the year. Special effects wise, First Man stands at a modest 60M budget, which although spikes for a Drama, compared to other similar space flicks such as The Martian and Gravity (which both have 100M+ budgets), First Man is extremely profitable using its wise cost with beautiful filming, an expensive, but hard-working cast, an amazingly real-life-like perspective on the moon and space itself and brilliant sound-work which make it just as much of a visually dazzling experience as other big-budget space movies. Storyline wise, First Man begins with a thrilling mission in space featuring Gosling play Armstrong which is beautifully filmed and viscerally compelling which gets the movie off to a fantastic start, later on Armstrong’s youngest child dies of a tumor which brings out the tear-jerker side of the movie, as we see many flashbacks throughout the film; Whatever genre, drama, action, thriller (which First Man features), the film is wonderfully successful, conjuring up a delightful, coherent and perfectly flowing story which unbelievably helps the already good experience for the audience.
Aging ‘The Moon’
Although it is no action movie, like other genre companions, First Man features extremely intense, loud space sequences which feature many deaths (even a couple on-screen) which may be too disturbing for children, a child dies and her coffin is shown being put into the ground and some very suspenseful, tense scenes which have tragic consequences. Language wise, there are occasional uses of holy s..t, damn, screw, jackass, hell and one use of f...ing. Sexuality wise, in one scene the main married couple dances and soon later are kissing while embracing, but nothing really to worry about.
Greatest Space Movies
First Man 95% sweet
Violence: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Language: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
Sex: ⭐☆☆☆☆
Age Rating: 11+
Gravity 92% sweet
Violence: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Language: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Sex: ☆☆☆☆☆
Age Rating: 13+
First Man 95% sweet
Storyline: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Gravity 92% sweet
Storyline: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
News Related to First Man
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