Devastated by the loss of his daughter but estranged from his sons. Seems to happen a lot, guess it’s true baby girls are the apples of their daddies eyes while boys are their mothers & can rot. The way this movie portrays his relationship to his sons is horrendous. It’s inhuman to be THAT indifferent to your boys. It’s nothing I can ever respect no matter who among you says what.
shareArmstrong's sons approved of the film and said it captured his personality well:
https://www.universetoday.com/140197/what-neil-armstrongs-sons-really-think-about-the-movie-first-man/
It doesn't show him as a particularly engaged father, but I would say that in general he comes across as an aloof guy who spent a lot of time inside his own head. He didn't seem to be especially connected to anyone else either, so it wasn't just his sons.
Agree with you there I do Mr. PrimeMinsterX. He comes across as such a low key personality it’s hard to get a pulse from the guy. Don’t know if he was really like that but Gosling’s performance borders on the catatonic category. No signs of life here doctor. But I like your “He spent a lot of time inside his own head” observation which is more true than anything else in this film.
He did have a semblance of a relationship with his wife though who some people here seem to dislike, maybe for the reason she’s the only one who called him out on his bullshit. Especially when he was seriously gonna skip out on his kids without saying goodbye, maybe for the final time. Something that you just do not do. But that’s my take on it.
I get the feeling that he was one of those guys whose mind is wildly active--and obviously he was a brilliant dude in real life--but outwardly he was extremely reserved and didn't connect well with other people, almost like he had Aspergers.
The real Neil Armstrong also would only very rarely do interviewers and never sought the spotlight.
I like the film, and in fact I own it on 4K Blu-Ray, but it's definitely like an art house film that was given a relatively big budget. I hope eventually we'll be given a more mainstream Apollo 11 film that's more in line with the feel of Apollo 13. It's amazing that such a film hasn't been made already (though I know HBO did do a mini-series).
Yes, he certainly was a distant and really kept to himself.
This is definitely not a great film, but I would watch this over Apollo 13 any day, which is a film that takes so many historical liberties with it and even in doing that, it comes off as incredibly boring and flat.
Oh, I disagree. I love Apollo 13. It's one of my favorite films of all time and easily my very favorite Ron Howard film.
Boring and flat? I could never imagine that anyone would describe it with those words. I think it's a well-directed, well-acted, engrossing, engaging, inspiring all-American movie.
It may take historical liberties but most films based on history do. It says something that Gene Kranz liked the film so much that he named his autobiography "Failure Is Not an Option," a line attributed to him in the film that he never spoke but that he thought was so perfect for the situation at hand.
Well, to each there own.
I do agree that it has great acting, but I just did not find it all that interesting. This is also coming from some one who very much enjoys films that are considered slow by many (The Insider, Foxcatcher, and Spotlight).
I don't think it is Ron Howard's best film. I would put Cinderella Man and A Beautiful Mind as both superior, despite both of them taking a whole hell of a lot of historical liberties.
I appreciate you responding in a polite manner, many people no longer do that.
The Insider is excellent and deserves a lot more attention than its gotten over the years. It's like a Top 3 Michael Mann movie, in my opinion. I just rewatched it about a year ago and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Spotlight is also quite good. I loved the recreation of that time period and the vibe of the film (though it really feels more like the early-to-mid 90s rather than the early 00s). Both it and The Insider are among the best journalism movies ever made.
Cinderella Man is good. A Beautiful Mind is also good, but honestly I find it boring. Not a bad film by any means but not one that really grabbed my interest. Apollo 13, however, I regard as a masterpiece, perhaps Ron Howard's only true masterpiece. Even though I know how the film ends I still tear up when the capsule splashes down, safe and sound. I'm sure it helps that I have a very strong interest in the space program, especially during that time in history.
I agree that, sadly, many people have forgotten how to be polite. There are few rules anymore about behaving in a civilized manner, especially on the Internet. We were once expected to be "ladies and gentlemen" and to comport ourselves as such. I suppose it will take people like you and I to continue the old way of doing things.
If you read the book that Apollo 13 is based on (Lovell's Lost Moon), you see that it is a pale imitation of a film in comparison.
shareThat may be but I absolutely love the movie. It hands down has provided me with one of the most satisfying cinematic experiences I've ever had. In my view, it's Ron Howard's best film and perhaps his only movie that could be regarded as a true masterpiece.
I would like to read Lovell's book, though.
"Gosling’s performance borders on the catatonic category."
Don't they all, pretty much?