Damien Chazelle’s Neil Armstrong biopic ‘First Man’ earns rave reviews at Venice

Ryan Gosling in “First Man.”
Universal

• “La La Land” director Damien Chazelle’s new Neil
  Armstrong biopic “First Man” earned rave reviews after its
  premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday.
• Ryan Gosling stars as Armstrong in the film alongside
  Claire Foy.
• Through an adaptation of James R. Hansen’s biography of
  Armstrong, “First Man” depicts the challenges that led up to
  NASA’s historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

“La La Land” and “Whiplash” director Damien Chazelle’s latest
film, “First Man,” a biopic of astronaut Neil Armstrong starring
Ryan Gosling, has earned rave reviews from critics following its
premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday. 

Gosling stars as Armstrong in “First Man,” alongside Claire Foy
as Armstrong’s wife, Jan. The film depicts the turbulent build-up
to NASA’s historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969, through an
adaptation of James R. Hansen’s biography of Armstrong.

Critics who saw the movie at Venice have praised it as a gripping
and hyper-realistic representation of the challenges that came
with being the first man to step foot on the moon.

With 12 reviews out of the Venice premiere, “First Man” stands at
a 92% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Owen Gleiberman from
Variety called the film a “turbulently spectacular and
enthralling drama” that is “so revelatory in its realism, so
gritty in its physicality, that it becomes a drama of thrillingly
hellbent danger and obsession.”

Gleiberman also wrote in his review that the authenticity of
“First Man” made the Oscar-winning 1995 space drama “Apollo 13”
“look like a puppet show.” 

In a review for
The Playlist, Jessica Klang labeled the film “an immersive, immaculately crafted, often
spectacular and satisfyingly old-fashioned epic that may well
become the definitive moon-landing movie.”

David Rooney of
The Hollywood Reporter called it a “sober,
contemplative picture” with “emotional involvement, visceral
tension, and yes, even suspense, in addition to stunning
technical craft.”

“First Man” opens nationwide on
October 12. 

Watch the trailer for the film
below: