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| Source: Imdb |
This gripping drama centred on NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong and his long journey to the
Moon was well-made. The script covered almost a decade of Armstrong’s life, focusing on his inner workings, his close acquaintance with grief and loss, as
well as his relationships with the people around him. His motivations stayed
hidden in shadow, though. It was never quite explained what gave him the drive
to participate in the dangerous space race. The plot itself was not really new
to me, having recently watched “Apollo 13” and the brilliant documentary “Apollo
11” – which, by the way, this film seemed to stick very closely to in a lot of
key moments, even going so far as to recreating certain sequences as seen in
the archive footage. But even knowing how it would end, the film was still a
nail-biting trip, and the additional background was quite interesting.
All actors
did great jobs. Ryan Gosling provided a personal and intimate portrait of Neil
Armstrong as a grieving, driven man, constantly hit by loss. He gave the faint
impression that this might have been a factor in his reckless daring. Claire Foy
was brilliant as his wife, with a flawless accent and great screen presence.
The fellow astronauts, though supporting characters, all had their own
personality, too.
Visually, I
wonder if the multitude of out-of-focus shots was a deliberate move. If so, I’m
not sure what they wanted to achieve. Overall, the picture looked sort of
grainy. I suppose the point was to better capture the vibe of the 60ies. The sets
and costumes were great, too. They did a particularly fantastic job at
conveying the claustrophobic feeling of a space capsule. The only element I
would have expected more of was the score. It just felt neither emotional nor
epic enough for this film.
All in all,
a great effort, though. 4/5
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