We’d be wrong not to mention that we originally wanted to say title this news post “Ryan Gosling has The Right Stuff,” because, upon first watch, that’s the movie that Damien Chazelle’s First Man most resembles. Not only in the can-do spirit that embodies every frame of that film, mind you, but in the fact that the Whiplash and La La Land director looks to be dealing in the kind of iconography that Philip Kaufman first put to celluloid back in the ’80s.
Basically, what we’re saying is that if you have a beating heart in your chest, you’re bound to be somewhat stirred by a Neil Armstrong biopic that looks like it has every single thing going for it. Don’t just take our word for it, watch it yourself:
In the La La Land Oscar controversy shuffle, when every person on Film Twitter and in the press shat on the movie because it seemed so perfectly assured of winning Best Picture (Ron Howard voice: It didn’t), Chazelle’s talent — and his ability to craft massively interesting populist entertainment — was a bit lost in the shuffle. It looks like he’s brought his A-game here, and has assembled a tremendous cast to pay tribute to one of this nation’s few and unspoiled icons: Claire Foy as Armstrong’s first wife, Janet Sheron, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll (as John Glenn!) and many more interesting faces fill out the roster. Plus, we’re always down to see some Gosling, though it’s nice that it’s in circumstances as good-looking as these.
Here’s a synopsis with some extra details:
“On the heels of their six-time Academy Award-winning smash, La La Land, Oscar®-winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam for Universal Pictures’ ‘First Man’, the riveting story of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961-1969. A visceral, first-person account, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the movie will explore the sacrifices and the cost—on Armstrong and on the nation—of one of the most dangerous missions in history.”
First Man hits theaters on October 12.
Featured image via Universal Pictures