A lone astronaut stationed on the Moon deals
with a personal crisis after a near-death accident. DRAMA/SCI-FI
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Moon (2009)Directed by Duncan Jones
Written by Nathan Parker Starring Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott, Kaya Scodelario, Benedict Wong, Matt Berry |
Moon may just be Sam Rockwell's finest performance, and it's the focal point of a truly mesmerizing and brilliant sci-fi drama. Duncan Jones's debut film is the perfect showcase for isolation, and with Clint Mansell's haunting score lording over the entire film, it's no wonder I found myself getting lost in it. Moon brings us into a world where we've solved the energy crisis by importing fusion power from the Sun using the Moon, somehow. It's not important because it's not essential to the plot. I like that this film doesn't deliberately confuse its audience just to convince us of its sci-fi street cred. We know everything we need to know from the beginning. Sam Bell (Rockwell) is alone, and he's about to snap.
We meet Sam Bell near the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, with only his A.I. assistant GERTY (Spacey) to keep him company. When Sam has an accident and awakes in the infirmary, things take a sharp turn into a sci-fi mystery involving a number of Sam clones, of which our Sam may be the latest. How long has he been here? Who is the original Sam? What else is Lunar Industries not telling him? All of these questions and more are answered perfectly by the film's end, a poignant conclusion that does justice to all of our Sam characters we've grown to love. Sam Rockwell is a fantastic character actor and is always reliable for a good performance, but I think he does some of his best work in the movie. He plays at least four different versions of Sam Bell, and they all seem different. No easy feat, but Rockwell does it with ease. You like him, you feel sorry for him, and you cheer for him as he figures out how to come out on top over these industrial sons of bitches that have been manipulating him for God knows how long. Definitely worth a watch for Rockwell's performance, but thankfully the rest of the movie is just as good. |