“Three features in, Damien Chazelle has emerged as one of our most exciting and accomplished filmmakers,” Christopher Nolan writes as part of Variety’s Directors on Directors series. If you remember, last year Chazelle praised Nolan's “Dunkirk.”
Read moreDamien Chazelle's "First Man" fails to launch [TIFF]
Neil Armstrong's story is adapted to the screen by director Damien Chazelleand talented scribe Josh Singer in "First Man" -- a mechanical, altogether flat attempt to recreate the events that led to Armstrong's historic trip to the moon.
The 33-year-old Chazelle, already known for his excellent work in "Whiplash" and "La La Land," stalls to find the same excitement and intensity of Armstrong's journey in "First Man." Why? Because he is restrained by adapting the story of a person that, quite frankly, was just not that interesting to begin with. Sure, Armstrong was the first man to step foot on the moon and the film's final stretch, delving into that historic voyage to space, is incredibly shot and ultimately very moving -- however, the getting there is rather dull and consists of mostly trial and error efforts from Armstrong and his NASA crew to prepare for the lunar journey.
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