Movie Review: 'First Man' Is 2018's Best Film

The headline says it all. First Man is now the fourth movie I’ve proclaimed as the best movie of the year (started with A Quiet Place, followed by Eighth Grade, most recently A Star is Born) but this time I think the label sticks. Looking ahead at what movies are still to come, I’m not sure what could unseat it. Vice probably has the best chance to approach A Star is Born/First Man levels, with maybe Welcome to Marwen as a dark horse. But I’m banking heavily on First Man taking this title and not giving it up.

I won’t go too much into the plot of First Man as I’m sure everyone is familiar with the main storyline: Neil Armstrong’s journey to the moon. It picks up in 1961, eight years before the historic moon landing, and chronicles his life from that point on.

First Man is as nearly flawless as maybe any movie I have ever seen. Ryan Gosling vaults to the head of the Best Actor Oscar race with his performance here. It was a mostly quiet, understated role, but he still managed to invoke so much subtle intensity. Claire Foy is killer in her role as Neil’s wife Janet. Foy carries most of the emotional weight of the movie, after Neil is consumed with grief over the death of their young daughter, lost to cancer. She owns the screen every time she appears. The rest of supporting cast is fantastic, full of “I know that guy from somewhere” actors. But as great as all the acting performances are, the technical aspects of the film are what take it to another level.

To start with, First Man is one of the most well-shot movies ever. Oscar winner Linus Sandgren (won for La La Land) teams again with director Damien Chazelle. And he knocked it out of the park. There was one specific technique that I loved. The movie is filled with close-up shots of various characters. What this does is allows us feel closer, more connected to the movie and the specific scene. These close-ups are shot from both the character POV and from behind, so we’re seeing what they’re seeing. And that gives us a nice little twist to a large chunk of the space shots. We mainly see from the astronaut’s point of view; we can only see what they would be seeing. It adds a different level of intensity and intimacy to those shots. That said, however, the movie does still use some of the bigger, wide-sweeping shots, and they are incredible. There are some absolutely breathtaking shots; some of the best I’ve ever seen. I recommend reading this article from Indiewire for some great additional behind the scenes info on the shooting process for the movie.

The directing, the music, the set pieces (the moon, oh my goodness), it’s all astonishingly well-done. Of course that is always important, but I see these technical aspects as even more important in biopics and other historical or based-on-a-true-story movie. Especially in a movie telling such a famous story, everyone knows the ultimate outcome. There was no question as to whether or not the lunar landing would happen. The challenge becomes still creating suspense, keeping the audience engaged as the story progresses to what everyone knows is coming. And this is where First Man shines. It pulls you in from the beginning with an amazing opening scene and never lets you go. Everything works together perfectly. Each scene had the perfect score. Every shot, every line of dialogue was done and said with a purpose. Truly stunning work all around.

I can’t go on, I’m just going to start repeating myself. Bottom line, First Man is marvelous. One of the best movies in recent history. A definition of a must-see film. And pro-tip here: see it in IMAX. It will cost a little more, but it is easily worth it.

Oscar hopes: All of them (okay, maybe not all, but a lot)

Best Picture
Best Director – Damien Chazelle
Lead Actor – Ryan Gosling
Supporting Actor – A number of potential actors here, but don’t know if any can break through. Would be well-earned though.
Supporting Actress – Claire Foy
Adapted Screenplay – Josh Singer
Cinematography – Linus Sandgren
Every other technical category it’s eligible for