Not what I expected of a biopic of Neil Armstrong, although Ryan Gosling does bear a striking resemblance to the famous astronaut, writes June Howell.

After two hours I was fidgeting in my seat, and someone said, as the credits rolled up, “Did it take THAT long to reach the moon?” The trouble was, for a biopic, there wasn’t much biography.

It gave us mind-blowing training missions amid spectacular special effects, (which won an academy award).

Nobody could fault Gosling’s portrayal of the super-cool and focussed astronaut, which he played with a sort of Aspergers-aplomb. (To be an astronaut, you probably need to be a bit on the spectrum.)

It also gave us, in a most compelling way, a father bereaved of a young daughter, but unable to give any expression to his grief.

Claire Foy, as Janet Armstrong, coping with her exceptional husband, facing likely widowhood whilst holding their young family together, deservedly won an academy award for Best Supporting Actress.

As the film moves on through preparations for the moon landing, there follow the inevitable fatal accidents among colleagues, and Neil’s difficulty in showing or sharing emotion at their loss.

If nothing else, this film was worth seeing to remember the families behind the men, and the men who gave their lives in the name of space exploration.

Whether or not Neil Armstrong suffered from Aspergers is irrelevant – I’m merely admiring an acting technique which successfully overcame a limited script.

Having said that, the sound quality was somewhat lacking, so we had to fill in the sound bites with a bit of our own impro. Perhaps we lost some of the finer points of Josh Singer’s (remember West Wing?) screenplay.

No problem hearing the music, but I’m surprised director Damien Chazelle didn’t stick with Dvorak’s ‘New World Symphony’, which Armstrong took in the space capsule with him. Instead we had electronic “mood music” with plenty of moog synthesizer composed by Justin Hurwitz. Apparently he was at Harvard with Chazelle, and they were planning the project back then.

So a long way from ‘La La Land’, in which we last saw them working together, alongside their leading man, Ryan Gosling; birds of a feather flock together, but maybe they shouldn’t fly to the moon.

Next film is ‘A Star is Born’ on April 2 - the new one, with Lady Gaga! Bar open at 7 pm for screening at 7.30, or book a pre-supper at Fuchsias Cafe, adjoining 01834 219224.

Tenby Film Club is a community cinema run by Anne Draper and Val Coates-Rees.

For more info visit Films4tenby.co.uk