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Friday
03Jul2009

Movie Review - 'Moon'

DateFriday, July 3, 2009 at 1:06AM
Moon

Starring Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey
Directed by Duncan Jones
Rated R

moomposter.jpg I don't remember what they charge for admission to Graceland, but unless you're a complete Elvis fanatic, it's a ripoff. There's so much mystique about the place, but when you walk in it's much smaller than you imagined - even the Jungle Room - and you can't go upstairs to see where the real action is. As famous homes go, it's pretty disappointing.

Then you walk across about an acre of land to The King's racquetball courts. There's simply not much of a payoff. Enjoy the gift shops.

Duncan Jones' Moon is not in any sense a ripoff, but I think it's fair to say I expected one more room on the grand tour than I was shown. Jones has given us a great story with plenty to think about, but visually, cathartically, it misses something in the end.

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is two years eleven months and two weeks into his three-year contract with Lunar Enterprises, a firm that mines Helium-3 on the dark side of the moon. That isotope is incredibly useful in nuclear fusion, and in the real world, would be an incredibly powerful resource if it were available in large quantities, and it is generally believed that He-3 is in greater supply on the moon, so the science here is relatively sound.

Sam collects the harvested He-3 and sends it back to Earth where it is used as the solution to the world's energy crisis. It's monotonous work, and outside of his onboard computer called GERTY (Kevin Spacey), Sam interacts with no one. He sees messages from his wife, which makes him all the more anxious to end his contract.

On one outing to collect the supercharged helium, Sam is distracted, crashing his moon buggy into the giant moon rock harvester. When he awakes, he has no memory of his previous mission, but knows GERTY and knows he's Sam Bell. But something's not right. There's another Sam Bell. Is it a clone, is it the invention of a lunatic stuck on the moon too long? Is it a machine? Or is Sam even alive?

Jones' vision of the moon and the Lunar Enterprises facilities is very consistent with the Kubrickian notion of space exploration, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. There are terrific little touches, like how incredibly dirty Sam's spacesuit gets after all that time, and if it's possible, Moon makes you feel like you're actually there.

You couldn't hire a better actor for this role than Sam Rockwell, who is almost always compelling in a way most actors aren't. It's nothing in his training, really. Rockwell just brings his own vibe to everything, the way a young Brando could, or Johnny Depp at his best. He does it without being a true chameleon, which makes it all the more impressive. Even with a story you expect, Rockwell can surprise you with his characterization, embodied perfectly in George Clooney's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, in which he portrayed game show host Chuck Barris.

Here, Rockwell tackles the unenviable task of playing the same character on screen with himself while displaying two fully-formed parts of his personality. One Sam Bell is violent, cocky, and angry, and one is a complete pacifist slowly losing his mind and health. He never loses either Sam Bell, although Jones probably takes one further than the story needs him to go.

Beyond that minor objection, the only fault I can find in Moon is that the resolution seems hurried and less determined than the rest of the movie. Because this is a think piece and not a festival of explosions, Jones can afford to be more subtle, and he certainly exercised that option. But I could have done with a little more emphasis.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment5 Comments |

Reader Comments (5)

any idea when this is going to open here in the valley?

Friday, July 3, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterlaura

It's open now.

Friday, July 3, 2009 | Registered CommenterColin Boyd

I didn't mind the unexplosive climax. The last line did it for me.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterCarv

Really dug this, and agree with Carv...the last line was good.

Monday, July 27, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterEmo

I was impressed by the pacing of this movie. I went in expecting it to be a little slow at times due to the solitary nature of the story. However, I never felt that. There was always just the right amount of tension to keep pulling you through the story.
Sam Rockwell should be nominated for this without a doubt. I just hope it wasn't too far away from award season.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterSchro

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