First Man Review: 8 Ups & 2 Downs

1. It's A Little Slow In Places

First Man Ryan Gosling
Universal

Chazelle is clearly in no rush to tell his story, and for the most part that's a good thing, though it does also result in a few stretches where things feel like they could be tightened up somewhat.

After all, First Man is a meaty 141 minutes long, and considering the majority of the film revolves around the build-up to the Apollo 11 flight, there are definitely a few beats that feel a little over-stretched and repetitive.

It's a minor quibble considering the epic, operatic sweep of the entire movie, but it doesn't feel quite as tightly edited as Chazelle's punchier prior two movies.

And now, here are the many, many things the movie gets so very right...

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Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.