First Man

Fist Hit: Compelling reenactment of an audaciously brave time in the 1960’s where we were challenged by President Kennedy to go to the moon.

When the first man walked on the moon I was packing my bags and heading to Vietnam from Alameda Naval Air Station in San Francisco Bay. Our walking on the moon was an amazing accomplishment. This film gives us a rendition of the challenges these men faced while we made mistake after mistake learning how to build rockets, space suits, and all the other paraphernalia required to send three men in a rocket ship all the way to the moon and return them safely.

I don’t have any point of reference to what Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) was like in real life, but Gosling brought a stoic, determined, quite man to the screen. The back story to his quietness seemed to be made up of two things; it was his default way of being in the world and that he was heartbroken when his young daughter, Karen, died of a brain tumor. He didn’t speak about the loss, but it did not deter him from following orders and doing what he needed to do to be prepared for the event of the century. It was his wife Janet (Claire Foy) that kept his family life and home life grounded and together.

The film begins in 1961 when Neil flying an experimental rocket plane called the X-15 bounces off the atmosphere. He manages to land the plane safely on a dry desert lake bed, however the people he works for think he’s distracted by his daughter’s plight. What struck me about the scenes inside the X-15 cockpit was how basic and utilitarian all the switches and instruments were. The rattling in the cockpit was enough for me to lose faith in man's ability to create a safe rocket.

Armstrong applies to and gets accepted into the Gemini program based in Houston. This program is what NASA has put together to attempt to send someone to the moon as ordered by the President. The family consisting of Neil, Janet and their oldest boy Rick, pick up everything and move to Houston. Arriving in Houston, Claire gets pregnant and they have another boy named Mark.

During the development of these rockets some of the selected astronauts are killed in plane crashes and testing of the equipment. In fact, Neil wasn’t originally part of the fist Apollo crew, but when Ed White (Jason Clarke), Gus Grissom (Shea Whigham), and Roger Chaffee (Cory Michael Smith) are killed inside a capsule during a plug test, the Apollo program leader, Deke Slayton (Kyle Chandler), informs him that Armstrong will head up the first crew to land and walk on the moon. The first crew to go to the moon was Neil, Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll), and Jim Lovell (Pablo Schreiber).

There are numerous amazing scenes in this film; from Neil’s boys roughhousing and playing in the pool, to space capsules spinning uncontrollably in space, to the awe of standing on the moon.

Gosling was excellent in this role. His natural air of solitude worked perfectly for a man driven by adventure, duty, danger, and precise engineering. Foy was fantastic as the woman holding everybody and everything together in their lives. The scene when she instructs Neil to tell the boys that they may never see him again is powerful and poignantly clear. Clarke, Whigham, Smith, Chandler, Stoll, and Schreiber were excellent as part of the Gemini and Apollo teams. Josh Singer wrote an excellent screenplay. Damien Chazelle did a magnificent job of bringing the look, feel, and the technology of the 1960’s to life. The artistic shots against the front reflective face shields of the space helmets were hypnotizing.

Overall: This film is a wonderful interpretation of how we achieved an, almost, unthinkable goal.

Den of Thieves

First Hit:  Although interesting at times, overall it wasn’t a really good heist film.

I love good heist films. The original 1960 “Oceans 11” and the 2001 “Oceans Eleven” films were fun examples of heist films as was “The Thomas Crown Affair” in its own way.

Here we have, what we’re made to believe is, a set of former military men fresh out of prison planning to rob the LA Federal Reserve Bank. Although the general plot line was interesting enough, the twist can be spotted early on, which makes watching this an exercise in waiting for the cat to be out of the bag.

Chasing this gang of thieves is a miss-fit Sheriff's unit lead by Big Nick O’Brian (Gerard Butler). His gang of thuggish deputies determine that Ray Merriman (Pablo Schreiber) and his group of thieves, Enson Levoux (Curtis “50 cent” Jackson), and Bo “Bosco” Ostroman (Evan Jones) have been responsible for all the unsolved bank robberies in LA.

To introduce Donnie Wilson (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), the film has Merriman adding Wilson as a driver to assist his crew in robbing banks.

The interaction between the Sheriff and his deputies and the thieves is ridiculous. Especially when they interrogate Donnie in a motel room and when Big Nick walks into a restaurant where the whole gang is celebrating. The interaction is unrealistic.

We are also treated to the ass like ways of Big Nick when he’s trying to tell his wife to not leave him, sitting at a strip club, and speaking with his FBI counterpart.

Some of the ingenious planning and execution of the robbery was interesting, but in the end it just fell flat and lacked luster of any kind.

Butler played a jerk and there was nothing that would have the audience care about what happens to him. His behavior almost deserved a movie death. Schreiber was good enough to believe he was hardened and didn’t want to go back to jail. 50 cent was good, although I keep sensing he needs to lose who he is so that he can become an actor of merit. I did love the garage scene when he takes his daughter’s date into the garage. Jones was strong and intense in his role. Jackson Jr. was OK, although I’m not sure I bought the premise of his involvement in the overall story. Christian Gudegast wrote and directed this, and it might be some time before he’s loaned money to do another film.

Overall: This film lacked effort, suspense, and a decent plot line.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

First Hit:  Possibly adds a bit more light on the problem and fiasco of the 4 American citizens, including an Ambassador, who died on September 11, 2012 in Benghazi.

This film focuses on the group of CIA security contractors who volunteered on their own to try to save the US Libyan Benghazi Embassy, beloved Ambassador Christopher J. Stevens (Matt Letscher), and their team from being overrun by Islamic Militants.

The hidden CIA compound was less than a mile away from the Embassy and when the Embassy was being overrun. The only help that seemed forthcoming was from this group of contractors who were told by the Chief CIA operative Bob (David Costabile) not to help the Ambassador for fear of exposing the CIA compound.

As the attack began there was no immediate support from other parts of the US government and the film doesn’t do much to clarify why there was little support for the Ambassador and his team. There is reference to a broadcast that the uprising started with a reaction to a video but only as a tangential point.

One thing that was made clear was that neither the Embassy team nor the CIA crew knew what local citizen or group of locals they could trust. At one moment someone was friendly, in the next the person was assisting the plot to overrun the compounds.

The film focuses on the team of six contractors, their relationships with each other, the CIA Chief, and their families back home. One of the operatives, Jack Silva (John Krasinski) left is wife and two daughters home again to risk his life with his friends in a war torn country. Why?

That is part of the question the film attempts to answer. He struggles financially with viable work when home, but realizes, especially when he finds out his wife is pregnant again, if he gets out of Benghazi alive, he needs to go home and stay home.

This film is about the trust each of the contractors have for their fellow fighters. This film is also about how the lack of support by the US Government in this critical situation was abominable.

Krasinski was very strong as a standup guy, soldier, friend, and father. As the team: James Badge Dale as Tyrone “Ron” Woods was perfect as a supportive solider. Pablo Schreiber as Kris “Tanto” Paronto was wonderful as well. David Denman as Dave “Boon” Benton was very good. Dominic Fumusa as John “Tig” Tiegen was ideal as part of the team. Max Martini as Mark “Oz” Geist was ideal as another member. Costabile was very strong as the CIA veteran who wanted to play by the book. Chuck Hogan wrote a strong screenplay. Michael Bay did a great job of creating the confusion that surrounded the events of the situation in Benghazi.

Overall:  I liked the focus of this film, which was on the team and their support of each other.