However, that dedication to reality also cuts both ways, and similar to how Dunkirk didn’t have a single relatable character, First Man gives you nobody with which you can connect, and it detracts from the experience.
Walking out of First Man, I realized that my feelings very much lined up with my thoughts about Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk last year.
Overall, the Neil Armstrong movie is definitely the stronger film, but it also isn’t everything you hope that it would be.
Both have riveting sequences, with standouts being filmed in glorious IMAX, and each has an admirable relationship with history that lends a strange but important sense of credibility.