First Man

Space exploration has been the theme of many blockbusters. A Trip to the Moon (1902), Apollo 13 (1995), Interstellar (2014), and others. It has become a cash cow for Hollywood, boosting box office sales to infinity and beyond! But, all pale in comparison with the latest space odyssey, First Man, which chronicles Neil Armstrong's struggles and successes leading up to his iconic first step on the Moon, July 20, 1969. Based on James R. Hansen’s biography of Armstrong, the film begins with adult Armstrong test-flying the not-quite-controllable X-15 airplane-makeshift rocket. I'm sure Director Damien Chazelle fought the urge to make this two-hour film into a full-blown biopic - which ended up being for the best. Instead, he created a tense drama with a Montage of glances of Armstrong's youth. Skipping church, they flew planes. Instead of living the stereotypical 1940s American family lifestyle, they lived in the air. "We skipped Sunday school and took our first airplane ride,” his father said. 
“Neil, you’re bouncing off the atmosphere,” says the voice in his ear, just before Adult Armstrong plummets back to Earth.  
It's a simple movie, really. Sure, its cinematography is nothing less than top-notch, but there's an instant connection between the viewers and the characters. You feel what they feel. You get nausea when the space shuttle blows up in the opening scene. You deal with the emotional stress as Armstrong tells his son he has to leave - and daddy might not come back. The father of two, after losing a daughter - not to the malignant tumor that grew within part of her brain stem - but to pneumonia that had been brought on by her frail condition, tries to tell his sons the importance of this mission. 
"Gosling digs deep to capture the courage and grieving heart of a reserved man who can’t always articulate his emotions," writes Rolling Stone's Peter Travers. "His implosive performance grounds the film in truth and a touching reality." 
Wife Jan (played by Claire Foy) is hard on the men masking their emotions with bravado. The home scenes filled with raw emotion, invoking an uncomfortable feeling of this being the exact response of the real-life Jan.  “You’re a bunch of guys making models out of balsa wood,” she barks at NASA personnel, ” You don’t have anything under control."
 From the many failures to the first step, you feel like you're experiencing it all firsthand. So, embark on the epic odyssey that took the first man to the moon.