Underrated Space Film Starring Ryan Gosling Reaches New Heights on Streaming

First Man, the space drama directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Ryan Gosling, has become a streaming hit years after its original release. By the time of writing, First Man sits in the fourth spot on HBO‘s top 10 list of most-popular films worldwide. Other titles on the list include recent releases like A Minecraft Movie, Sinners, and Wicked.

The 2018 movie released by Universal Pictures follows the early days of the Apollo missions, back when NASA scientists were trying their best to defeat the Soviets in the space race. Neil Armstrong (Gosling) enters the space program and becomes one of the most promising pilots of all. The problem is that he aims too high, and puts his personal life aside to pursue the dream of being the first human being to walk on the moon. The Rotten Tomatoes synopsis reads as follows:

Hoping to reach the moon by the end of the decade, NASA plans a series of extremely dangerous, unprecedented missions in the early 1960s. Engineer Neil Armstrong joins the space program, spending years in training and risking his life during test flights. On July 16, 1969, the nation and world watch in wonder as Armstrong and fellow astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins embark on the historic Apollo 11 spaceflight.

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First Man was written by the Academy Award-winning writer of Spotlight, Josh Singer, who based his script on Armstrong’s authorized biography First Man by James R. Hansen. Alongside Gosling, the film features a star-studded ensemble cast that includes Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Corey Stoll, Kyle Chandler, Patrick Fugit, Pablo Schreiber, Ethan Embry, and Ciarán Hinds.

The critical reception was great, with critics praising the direction and Gosling’s outstanding performance. At this moment, the Certified Fresh biopic holds an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the audience score sitting lower at 68%. This difference in the ratings was also reflected in the box-office performance: it was a film that commercially didn’t do well for Chazelle’s career, with the director following up with Babylon, another bomb that mostly flew under the radar.

‘First Man’ Is a Superb Space Movie – So, What Went Wrong?

First Man with Ryan Gosling in Blue — Universal Pictures

Not only did First Man succeed with critics, but it earned a few nominations during the award season. At the Oscars, it received nominations in the categories of Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects. Despite Chazelle’s great performance in the award circle with his previous feature La La Land, First Man did not garner any nods in the most important categories, and would only end up winning the Oscar for Best Visual Effects (how it beat Ready Player One is baffling).

Unfortunately, the film didn’t do well at the box office. It only grossed over $105 million from a $70 million budget. The lukewarm reception was associated with the movie being too long (141 minutes), and its focus on the dramatic side of the story. There was also controversy because of Chazelle’s decision not to show the American flag on the Moon. Because of this creative decision, the film received some backlash after its release. Despite all that, the movie is finally finding some much-deserved love on streaming severn years later.

Source: Flix Patrol