Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey & Dominique McElligott
A very impressive psychological drama/science fiction drama featuring a gripping central performance by Sam Rockwell that pays tribute to 1960s and 70s sci-fi films whilst possessing plenty originality of its own.
Directed by Duncan Jones (son of musician David Bowie) in his feature film debut and revolving around mainly a single character and a single actor in Sam Rockwell (with other characters seen mainly in video transmissions or heard as the voices of computers), Moon is an intimate and engrossing character piece set in the sci-fi genre and an impressive debut from Jones and also an amusingly appropriate debut for the son of a former ‘Spaceman’ and ‘Man Who Fell to Earth.’
In the future, Earth has solved its energy problems and much of its pollution problems from developing energy sources by mining the Moon. Taking energy production off-planet has resulted in a cleaner, happier planet however, life for those hired to mine the Moon is a lonely one. Sam (Rockwell) is the sole employee of a mining station on the Moon. Approaching the end of the three year contract where his only contact with his loved ones has been through video recording transmitted from Earth and his sole companion and artificial intelligence named Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey), Sam is looking forward to freedom and being able to see and interact with people again. However, an accident whilst investigating a malfunctioning processing unit and then a shocking discover when he finds himself awakening back in his station leads him to suspect that he might be losing his mind and that he has already been replaced on the station. What this means for his hopes of freedom and the suspicious behaviour of Gerty tests Sam’s wits and his resourcefulness.
Filmed on a low budget, a story with events confined to a single location and involving a single character relying upon the strength of a single actor’s performance, Moon is relying a lot upon the strength of its premise, of its character and his journey and upon Sam Rockwell to grip and engage audiences. Fortunately Moon succeeds on all counts. With the feelings of isolation in the story’s location and with the character of Sam and with the psychological drama that develops, Moon feels in part like a tribute to classic sci-fi films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Silent Running and even Ridley Scott’s Alien. However, while evoking the atmosphere and some of the themes of these films and of other films of that era, Moon more than satisfies on other levels. While the concept of a person isolated slowly losing his sanity, or feeling like it is so, is not a unique concept, Moon finds new ground to with which to generate drama and while audiences might initially predict part of the mystery behind Sam’s accident and subsequent discovery in the first half of the film, the approach to how Sam deals with his predicament and what it means for Sam Rockwell as an actor to explore is where Moon becomes most interesting and rewarding.
Despite a well written script and an intriguing premise, Moon is dependant upon the performance of Sam Rockwell to ensure its success. Fortunately Rockwell’s performance is an impressive one. With the plot allowing Rockwell to explore various aspects of Sam’s personality whether it be his anger at his situation, his despair or need to know he’ll be reunited with his family again, Rockwell gets a great opportunity to explore the character of Sam and portray the changes that the isolation of his job and the issues he has faced have wrought upon him. With no other actors to physically interact with (as others appear only in pre-recorded video messages), Rockwell manages to remain engaging throughout. Rockwell however, is not the only performance central to Moon; also noteworthy is the presence of Kevin Spacey who provides the voice to the stations artificial intelligence Gerty. Another example of effective casting on director Duncan Jones’ behalf, Spacey is smart choice for the role. Despite delivering all Gerty’s lines in a monotone, Spacey’s voice, his tone, allows for Gerty to appear compassionate and suspicious as the scene requires without any alteration in Spacey’s speech pattern.
Overall, Moon is a gripping and emotionally effecting drama set in a believably developed sci-fi setting. Rockwell delivers an excellent performance throughout and the story itself allows for an intelligent exploration of the effects of isolation and on the concept of human identity. Whilst inspired in its mood and approach by earlier sci-fi classics, Moon certainly deserves to be ranked amongst them as it is an intelligent, thought provoking and well performed sci-fi drama. Excellent.
Rating: 5/5
