After the triumph of La La Land, which almost won best picture and also made quite a bit of money, it’s almost surprising to consider how quiet the reception for First Man was. The movie, which tells the story of Neil Armstrong as he attempts to be the first man to walk on the moon, is a space epic that features some incredible outer space cinematography, but it was met more with a whimper than a bang.
Now that the movie is on Netflix, though, people who missed it in theaters have a chance to check it out and give the movie a second life. Here are three reasons you should do exactly that while it’s available on the service:
It’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best performances
Ryan Gosling has proven that he is a deeply versatile actor. Playing Ken in Barbie and a replicant in Blade Runner 2049 requires range, OK? One of his best performances, though, is as Neil Armstrong in First Man. Gosling is incredibly adept at playing men who are driven by a quiet determination, and bottle up all of their emotions to avoid dealing with them.
The crux of Gosling’s take on Armstrong is that he is a man who was driven to do extraordinary things in large part because of personal losses. First Man is the story of a regular guy who risked everything, and Gosling makes that man totally relatable, even if most of us will never get to the moon.
Damien Chazelle is a remarkably gifted director
Throughout his relatively short career, Damien Chazelle has received plaudits for his virtuosic camera moves and the musicality of his direction, and both of those things are on full display in First Man. While many of the film’s sequences are extraordinary, the truly masterful stuff comes at the film’s climax when Armstrong is landing on the moon.
Throughout the film, Chazelle takes time to emphasize just how brittle all of the machines being launched into space truly are. Going to the moon is an extraordinary accomplishment, but it was also a folly and a hugely dangerous one, and Chazelle captures all of that brilliantly in a single sequence.
You have got to hear this score
There are at least a dozen great reasons to watch First Man, but the best one might be Justin Hurwitz’s absolutely incredible score. Filled with lilting, mournful themes that perfectly match the movie’s overall tone, the score feels like a genuine revelation from the moment it starts.
Chazelle’s partnership with Hurwitz spans several films, and every time, Hurwitz delivers a score that feels both genuinely innovative and totally distinct from the rest of his work. First Man may be his biggest triumph, though, in part because it matches the epic scale of the film’s subject matter.
First Man is streaming on Netflix.
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