After watching the Neil Armstrong biopic First Man directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong I’m sorry to report that this film has issues. All of the glowing four star critical reviews I had read online about the movie should have been a clue as I rarely align with the critics. That, and the “flag planting” omission controversy that immediately followed the film’s release just seemed to place a dark cloud over the movie. I was able to get past that with ease but after having read the book and seeing Neil interviewed many times I just feel that Ryan Gosling totally missed capturing the nature and personality of the man.

I get what the actor was attempting to do and it was a gallant try but fell short and left me feeling depressed and sorry for Neil and his family. In an effort to show Neil as a man of few words, which he was, the viewer is instead left with a character who is deeply depressed, and hard pressed to show any emotion at all. The attempt was to make him seem strong and focused (which he was) but that is not what I took from the screen. I don’t think it’s a fair assessment or representation of the man. Yes, he was deeply affected by the death of his infant daughter Karen but that over shadows the entire film leaving the viewer’s impression of Neil empty, distant and dry.

Being an active test pilot and then astronaut during the NASA Gemini and Apollo programs was incredibly taxing on Neil. His wife and children suffered as did he. That much is clear and the movie hits home on that mark. Claire Foy (Janet Armstrong) gives a strong performance and is probably the saving grace of the film. There is little dialog and many flash backs to family events when things seemed “more normal” but that is not the focus of this film. Depression and despair are the primary theme. If you go into this film expecting something along the lines of Apollo 13 stop right there. This is not that type of film.

Enough with the family drama and depression. Let’s talk about the actual space missions. The Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 missions were both historic missions which Neil commanded and were represented in the film but represented in a much different light than previous space themed movies like say The Right Stuff or Apollo 13. These missions were solidly approached from Neil’s (the man’s) perspective and not so much from a historical perspective, hence no flag planting scene. Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin played by Corey Stoll is portrayed as a total jackass. I’m not entirely sure how accurate that portrayal is but I’m willing to cut Buzz a little slack having met the man in 1998.

If there is one thing this movie does get right, it’s the look and feel of a cramped Gemini spacecraft. That, and how terrifying it can be to be when things go wrong in space as they did for Neil and fellow astronaut Dave Scott. In fact, in many ways First Man captures this terror better than the clinical approach of Apollo 13.

Neil Armstrong was not a perfect person. Nobody is but First Man dwells solely on the man’s personal and family problems and only reveals flickers of brilliance when it comes to Neil’s career at NASA and his space missions. Don’t get me wrong. I was not expecting a documentary on Neil but I was expecting to get feel for his personality from this film.

The movie is a little slow but is thought provoking. Do not expect to get an honest feel for the man or his personality. Oddly enough, this is something I think the director and actor where solidly aiming for but clearly missed, and beyond the depressing overall theme, that really sours the film for me.