"Moon" review

Moon (Four Stars****)

***CONTAINS SPOILERS***

Moon marks the debut of Duncan Jones, previously most known for being the son of rock star David Bowie. The film stars Sam Rockwell as, Sam Bell, an employee of Lunar Industries, a company that harvests helium-3 from the dark side of the moon. The film is set somewhere in the near future, but an exact date is never pinned down. Sam is at the last leg of his 3 year contract with Lunar Industries and looks forward to his return home. His only companion on the lunar station is Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey), a "HAL like" computer that serves as an assistant to Sam. Some abnormal events begin to occur on the station which could be hallucinations. While on a routine mission, Sam crashes a lunar vehicle and is knocked unconscious. He awakens after an indeterminate amount of time and is encouraged by Gerty to rest and not leave the station. Meanwhile, Sam's suspicions begin to grow about his status on the station and whether or not the company is hiding something from him. Gerty tries to keep Sam inside the station, but he manages to break out and finds the wrecked vehicle with a body inside. Sam recovers the body only to find out that it is himself. Is he hallucinating the whole thing? Is he looking at a clone? Is he a clone?

Moon is a science fiction film in the tradition of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris. It combines elements of an imaginative future, intelligent science, and a psychological character study. Sam Bell is a fascinating character, someone who has been cloned and isolated due to the corporation's greed. The fascination of two clones of the same person is a brilliant way to dissect the human psyche. How can the same person act so differently?

Rockwell's performance is quite powerful without being heavy handed. He is alone for almost the entire film, at points having to play off of his own self. It's a role that, under a lesser actor, could be laughable. Rockwell has the ability to frustrate and gain sympathy from the audience in one moment. He perfectly executes a wide range of emotions that is deserved of an Academy Award nomination.

Gerty, the speaking computer on the ship, is what I'd call the "Bizarro HAL-9000." He is equally creepy with that monotone voice pattern which is mesmerizing to listen to. HAL's red eye has been replaced with a white eye and a series of facial expressions that range from a smiley face, frowns, and puzzlement. In the beginning of the film, Gerty seems to be mysterious, with something to hide. Could Gerty be the reason why Sam hasn't made live contact with Earth in more than a year? But Gerty is more than just a robot with artificial intelligence. There is actually a relationship that forms between Sam and Gerty that seems genuine, or genuine enough for a computer.

I think back to the most recent sci-fi other than Moon, Star Trek, and I think of how much better this film is. Moon is poignant, evoking more thought than the overbearingly loud Star Trek. It's this kind of science fiction meant to invoke deeply complex thoughts, not relying on explosions or CGI, although the computer generated Moon is quite impressive. The lunar station gives that claustrophobic feel of a submarine in that there is no escape. Duncan Jones's directing style is not frantic like many filmmakers these days. He doesn't overuse the handheld camera that would give the the viewer a headache. His style allows for the audience to concentrate on the events we are watching. We're not distracted by unnecessary camera movements; we can just simply observe.

The film manages to continually build suspense whether it is with the truth behind the cloning or what happened to Sam's wife and daughter. It's not fast paced and does move slowly at first, but it becomes increasingly intriguing. Moon may not be able to hold the attention span of the average moviegoer because it's not filled with wall-to-wall action, but it's one of the most thought provoking films of the year. It's a brilliant debut for Jones and I hope to see more from him in the future.