First Man–Not Over the Moon

 

First Man is a movie  biopic about the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, in the years 1961 to 1969 .   We are introduced to Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) and his days before being selected for the dangerous mission of first “Man on the Moon.”

Armstrong is involved in  a series of errors while flying experimental missions,  in training for  the NASA moon landing. While he is undergoing the rigors of flight simulation, his two-and-a half-year-old daughter is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor.   Despite the couple’s  best efforts, the child dies, leaving the parents and their young son to deal with the  tragedy.  To compound Neil Armstrong’s difficulties, a series of aborted efforts and deaths occur  during trial beta-testing for the moon mission.

Apollo 11’s crew is selected and  Armstrong is surprised to find he will be in charge.  Now with two young sons who may lose their father on this spaceflight,  his wife Janet (Claire Foy)  insists that Neil inform  his sons about the real  risks  and that he may not survive the mission.