Movie Review: First Man

Apparently, "First Man" is lagging behind "Venom" and "A Star Is Born" at the box office. Honestly, I don't understand why––seems like a movie about Neil Armstrong would beat out anything else Hollywood had to offer. Then again, I'm a pretty big fan of NASA.

This movie, though. This movie is good. I almost simply wrote "Go watch it" for my review, but then I stumbled upon this Business Insider article today: 22 Astounding Facts About the Moon Landing from "First Man" that are Actually True. And it really is astounding how accurate the movie is. It gives you a sense of just how dangerous being an astronaut was in the '60s and how agonizing it must've been to watch your astronaut friends die. The filmmakers offer a reverence not for America and its collective brains and courage, but for the individual men who did their jobs every day.

It's a tough movie to watch, though. The camera work is choppy and at times disorienting, but I think it serves to make the viewer feel taxed along with the astronauts. It's tense and stressful from beginning to end. Still, there are tender moments sprinkled throughout, and they make the stressful ones worth it. (The final scene is my favorite.)

So . . . Go watch it.


Thing I'm thankful for: CT scans