I went into "Moon" pretty much blind. That's an amazing feat considering that we have the internet and you can pretty much find out anything you want on any film. The only things I knew going in was that it starred Sam Rockwell(Snow Angels, Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), Kevin Spacey (American Beauty, Usual Suspects) provided his voice for a robot, and that the film took place on the Moon. Now, those three things alone seemed to warrant a pretty decent watch. As the film faded into the credits, I sat there pretty amazed with what I just watched. This is a fantastic film.
The basic plot is this. Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is contracted by his employer Lunar Industries to extract helium-3 for much needed power for the Earth. He's contracted for three years and is stationed alone, except for a robot named Gerty (Kevin Spacey) who keeps him company and performs tasks on the base. And when I say he's alone, he's really alone. He also can't communicate with Earth because of communication failures and only receives a recorded video message from his wife and three-year-old daughter Eve occasionally. So Gerty is really his only companion. Sam has two weeks before his contract is up and he begins to hallucinate, seeing a woman in the station. He goes out on a routine excursion to extract helium and he again hallucinates, seeing the same woman and crashes his rover into the harvester. Sam awakens in the infirmary and Gerty tells him he must stay put, so he can recover from his injuries. Headquarters tells him a rescue crew is on its way to repair the harvester and to take him home. Sam later overhears a live communication between Gerty and Headquarters and obviously becomes suspicious. Gerty can't allow him access off the base, for those are his orders. Sam fakes a meteor impact to trick Gerty into allowing him off the base to repair the damage. But Sam instead heads to the harvester he crashed into and upon investigating his rover, he finds a crew member inside which is then revealed to be himself.
That's just the first act of the film, but I will go no further. So why did I think this film was so fantastic? Well there are many reasons. First of all, Sam Rockwell. This is definitely some of his best work to date. He's a one man show in this film and that's a lot to ask of an actor. It's not easy to carry an entire film yourself, but he lifted up this movie and carried it up the steepest hill. He does a brilliant job convincing you that he's been on the Moon for three years and you can see how much of a toll it has taken on him in all his emotions. He sells it and he was truly fantastic. Kevin Spacey also does a nice job with his voice over as Gerty. He has one of those calm voices that seemed to be perfect for a robot. He took a lot of notes on Hal 9000 from "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Another reason why this film works so well is because of director Duncan Jones. This film is his feature debut and he did a wonderful job. There are shots in this movie that are drawn out and really make you start to feel antsy and impatient. He gives you that sense of claustrophobia and the pain Sam is going through while stationed there. He also co-wrote the film. It's refreshing to see a science fiction film with so much thought and character. You don't need big special effects to have great sci-fi film. It's always about character and it always will be.
*Fun fact about Duncan Jones. He's the son of David Bowie.
"Moon" is an excellent psychological thriller that focuses on character and emotion. Sam Rockwell gives a performance, in my opinion, that's Oscar worthy and he should be recognized. Compelling story, strong acting, and great direction makes this movie a winner and I hope people try to go see it as soon as possible. If you want something fresh in the science fiction genre, this is the movie for you. Final Verdict:
4/5
