NEW YORK MOVIE JOURNAL (Feb.-Mar. 2016)

[Chris Knipp]

LAST MAN ON THE MOON (Mark Craig 2016) This simple little inspirational film, sort of a space capsule, is just what the title says. Astronaut Gene Cernan narrates his own story, up to and beyond the time when he was the last guy who has gotten to follow in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong's "small step" and "giant leap." Judging by snapshots, films and meet-ups Cernan might be the handsomest guy to don a NASA space suit, even now at 80-something, a Clint Eastwood type. The filmmaker has access to wonderful NASA footage, most notably of space, to document Cernan's narrative. A sad recent visit to the now abandoned launching area is almost the only reference to the discontinuation of US manned space voyages as ambitious as the ones of the Sixties and early Seventies, and the film leaves many questions such as why, unanswered. This film depicts a very different time and lifestyle, a very different America it's hard not to be nostalgic about. Cernan does talk openly about his ego and all his space bros' neglect of family and other things in their ambitious and intense lifestyle. He got divorced and says 50% did (same as everybody in California?), and he admits his post-NASA life has been just as driven and family-neglectful. But he has a raft of handsome children and grandchildren. Post-lunar activities are not detailed. Craig's previous films have been about racing car drivers. 95 mins. Watched on DVD screener 22-23 Feb. Release Fri. 26 Feb. 2016, inxlusinf the Roxie and Elmwood Theaters in the Bay Area.