By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNow
Re-teaming with “La La Land” director Damien Chazelle, Ryan Gosling plays aeronautical engineer Neil Armstrong, the “First Man” to walk on the moon.
Chazelle says: “We wanted to tell the story about one of the most epic accomplishments in human history but root it very much in the intimate day-to-day details of what it was actually like to be Neil at that moment in time.”
That happened in 1969, but Armstrong’s story begins in 1961, when he was an X-15 test pilot, trying to tame a tumbling plane 140,000 feet over the Mojave Desert. Returning from the stratosphere, ever-stoic Armstrong faces an even greater challenge: his toddler daughter Karen’s fatal brain tumor.
After her death, Armstrong joins NASA’s Gemini-Apollo program, moving to Houston with his then-pregnant wife, Janet (Claire Foy) and son: “It’s a fresh start. It’ll be an adventure.”
Living in tract homes, the astronauts and their wives face daily danger which often ends in tragedy. During a prelaunch test at Cape Canaveral, Armstrong’s closest friend/colleague Ed White (Jason Clarke) is incinerated in a cockpit fire, along with Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee.
Like everything else in his life, laconic Armstrong internalizes his grief. His notoriously taciturn, self-effacing demeanor proves a bit of a turnoff, as is the abrasive cynicism of Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll).
Based on James R. Hansen’s “First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong,” it’s adapted as a docudrama by Josh Singer and cinematographer Linus Sandgren, focusing on Apollo 11, America’s first successful manned mission to the moon, recalling Pres. John K. Kennedy’s vision and “a giant leap for mankind.”
Opposition to the expenditure of taxpayers’ money is voiced by Kurt Vonnegut and Gil Scott-Heron’s poem “Whitey on the Moon,” pitting NASA against poverty/racial inequality.
Unlike “The Right Stuff,” which jauntily depicted John Glenn and the Mercury astronauts, this authentic biopic is weighted down with measured astrophysical detail, delineating what the stakes really were.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “First Man” is an inspirational, if enigmatic 8, befitting an inscrutable hero.
82-year-old Robert Redford claims “The Old Man & the Gun” will be his final performance. If so, charismatic actor goes out with a dazzling smile.
Based on David Grann’s 2003 “New Yorker” profile, Redford plays Forrest Tucker, a real-life con man whose greatest joy is robbing banks. It’s what he lives for!
Often working with two cohorts (Tom Waits, Danny Glover), dubbed ‘The Over-the-Hill Gang,’ he spends hours, even days, devising a plan. Then, dressed in a suit, tie and fedora, carrying a briefcase, he unobtrusively walks in, quietly asks to see the manager and politely demands cash. There’s never any violence, and his victims often remark on what a courteous, smiling gentleman he is.
Occasionally, he’s caught. Indeed, Tucker has spent his life breaking out of various prisons, starting with juvenile detention and including San Quentin and Alcatraz.
After one heist, Tucker evades the police by stopping to help a motorist with engine trouble. Over coffee, he becomes acquainted with Jewel (Sissy Spacek), a down-to-earth widow/rancher. Sure, they’re opposites but they have an almost combustible compatibility.
One of their most endearing scenes takes place in a mall, where he urges her to try on a bracelet and they blithely walk out of the jewelry store without paying. Conscience-stricken, she insists that they return the bauble, much to his amusement.
Writer/director David Lowery makes most of the Redford/Spacek chemistry. Their scenes sizzle. And Lowery even works in glimpses of Redford in his youth. But the rest of the film is a drag.
Lowery casts Casey Affleck as the brooding detective determined to capture Tucker. He’s a bore, as is his wife (Tika Sumpter). Their scenes stall. And Elisabeth Moss is wasted in a brief scene as Tucker’s estranged daughter.
FYI: Don’t confuse the character’s name Forrest Tucker with the actor from TV’s “F Troop.”
On the Granger Gauge, “The Old Man & the Gun” is a melancholy, sluggish 6, yet Redford, a master at his craft, steals the show.
Beneath its colorful animation and catchy pop songs, the family-friendly adventure “Smallfoot,” based on Sergio Pablos’ book “yeti Tracks,” is a contemporary allegory about a manipulative leader whose followers who are willing to accept any ‘truth’ as long as it validates their beliefs.
Migo (Channing Tatum) is a happy young yeti — aka Abominable Snowman — living high in the Himalayas in an isolated village. His father Dorgle (Danny DeVito) is the Gong Ringer, responsible for signaling the Great Glowing Snail to light up the sky every morning.
Belief in the Snail and other traditions are etched into the stone plates of a vast robe worn by the yeti tribal leader, the Stonekeeper (Common), who is determined to maintain order: “If there’s a question causing you to go astray/Just stuff it down inside of you until it goes away.”
The tranquillity of Migo’s existence is shattered when he spies a Smallfoot (a human), who survived a plane crash. When he returns to his village and tells people about his discovery, no one will believe him because he doesn’t have proof. So the Stonekeeper banishes Migo as a heretic.
“If it goes against the stones, it can’t be true,” one yeti says, realizing, “If one stone is wrong, the others could be as well.”
Exiled Migo then encounters a small group of outcasts known as the Smallfoot Expeditionary Society (SES). Led by The Stonekeeper’s daughter Meechee (Zendaya), they include Gwangi (NBA’s LeBron James), Kolka (Gina Rodriguez) and Fleen (Ely Henry).
Meanwhile, beneath the impenetrable cloud cover, an obnoxious TV host Percy Patterson (James Corden) is desperate to up his nature show ratings by dressing his producer like Bigfoot.
When Migo and Percy’s paths cross, Migo brings Percy back to the village, which throws yeti society into turmoil. Is Migo part of a conspiracy to threaten all of Yeti-Dom?
On the Granger Gauge, “Smallfoot” is a slyly subversive 6, encouraging children to question authority and learn to think for themselves.
(Editor’s Note: Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has been on radio/television as an anchorwoman and movie/drama critic for many years. See her reviews at www.susangranger.com.)
