It was easy to dismiss Moon as a 2001: A Space Odyssey clone based on the trailers, claustrophobic space station setting and the HAL 9000-like robot assistant (GERTY). It is a surprisingly fun space mystery and I'm glad I was wrong. The film opens with a commercial from Lunar Industries, promising a safe, dependable, and clean energy source from the moon. Then it cuts right to the lunar surface where astronaut/miner Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is preparing a cargo of helium for launch back to Earth.With 2 weeks left of his contract, he is more than ready to go home. Living in isolation on the dark side of the moon for the past 3 years, with the satellite dish down, his only link with Earth are company transmissions, delayed TV feeds of sporting events, and the occasional pre-recorded video relay from his wife. With not another living soul on the moon, Sam occupies himself by talking to his plants, carving a miniature model of his town, and talking to GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey). Sam thinks he's going insane from the psychological stress of isolation and starts seeing things. He scalds his hand on boiling water and later causes a serious crash with his rover, knocking out one of the giant combine harvesters. This is where the real mystery begins, as Sam discovers that he is not alone. I won't spoil the surprise, but what follows is an entertaining and suspenseful experience.
GERTY's monotone diction, calm demeanor, and design are unmistakably inspired by HAL 9000, a perhaps deliberate decision by the filmmakers to heighten the sense of mystery and play on our preconceived notions of the sci-fi genre built up by other films. He also has a camera "eye" like HAL, and we've also seen the maniacal ship's AI Otto from Wall-E. We don't know if GERTY's pleasantly warm voice and smiley face LCD display means he is genuinely helpful or if he's concealing a secret agenda. Director Duncan Jones is using our expectations against us, and this is part of the fun of unraveling the drama of Moon.
The film draws influences from other films like Blade Runner, Aliens, and of course, 2001 (whose vision of the future is clean and white interiors with bright lights) and Silent Running. With a 90 min runtime, the film is short. Made on a tiny budget (by today's standards) of $5 million, it is carried by the remarkable performance of Rockwell whose shows many sides of the Sam character. Interiors are very convincingly designed, with some lunar surface shots and CG that are perhaps a bit too heavy on lens flare. Except one instance of backal nudity (unfortunately, it's from Rockwell and not the lovely Dominique McElligott), a scene of nasty vomiting and a fist-fight, nothing too graphic is shown. The ending could've used maybe 3-5 minutes more of exposition as it did feel a bit rushed, but don't let me dissuade you from watching this wonderful film. A totally worthwhile way to spend movie night. 4.5/5
The movie begins with a commercial for Lunar Industries, a company that has found alternative energy sources on the moon. True to the nature of any corporation, costs are apparently kept to a minimum by having only a single human being on their moon base to oversee the extraction of Helium 3 -the precious alternative energy source. Consequently, Sam Bell is that sole employee who is serving out his 3 year contract on the moon. Stationed with him on this moon base is a computer with an emoticon personality named Gherty 3000. Other than, he has only himself for company. In the final stretch of his contract Sam slips into despair and falls prey to his own hallucinations. Moon is a survival story. The drama, however, is not in Sam's fight for physical survival or even mental survival. His battle is an emotional one. His memories of earth and loved ones waiting for him are the raw materials for his survival -but may also be the wellsprings for his rapid slip into despair.
Artistically, Moon pays its greatest homage to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Gherty 3000 is an obvious nod to the Hal 9000 in both its name and in the ominous voice that is provided by Kevin Spacey. Even the design of the computer interface and its typography is a revival of Kubrick's vision of the Discovery One ship. Unlike 2001, which remained mostly silent and stoic throughout, Moon is full of emotional inflections that curve our perception of both Sam and Gherty. Isolation has its quirky side with Moon. Space movies often evoke the question, "Are we alone in this universe?" Moon truncates that question to this: "Are we alone?" Once in a while, and more frequently in this genre than most others it seems; a film comes along with a very modest budget (in this case $5M), a limited cast, and a whole lot of heart. In the case of Moon, director Duncan Jones continues on in the tradition of works like Danny Boyle's Sunshine or perhaps even more appropriately, Neil Blomkamp's District 9. However, its inclusion in the oft-suspect category of independent science fiction entertainment is by no means synonymous with cheesy rubber masks, shoddy sets, or below par CGI; in fact quite contraire. Moon manages to accomplish a surprising deal of well-written plot structure and melds it with consistent, appropriate and believable visuals (whether special effect shots or otherwise). Amidst the current trend of bloated CG-overloaded "blockbusters" that attempt to make up for their lack of substance with flashy visuals, Moon is a refreshing diversion to say the least.
The tale centers on Sam Bell, the only man living on the moon in an undisclosed future date (but based on the technology, certainly the foreseeable future), who is nearing the conclusion of a three-year contract to work for Lunar Industries.
As the lone employee stationed at their lunar facility, Sam's primary job responsibility is to harvest and periodically ship (via rocket) to Earth supplies of helium-3; the clean and apparently extremely abundant fuel source used by future society.
In addition to the loneliness Sam experiences in complete isolation, there apparently is no direct communication link available between the lunar station and Earth. Fortunately he does experience a good deal of daily interaction with GERTY; an artificially intelligent computer/ robot that tends to his daily needs (voiced brilliantly by Kevin Spacey).
While the viewer is treated to a heartfelt demonstration of Sam's almost singular desire to complete his contract and return to Earth to be with his wife Tess and their infant daughter Eve, things start to get very interesting when with only two weeks to go, he gets into a rover accident at one of the mechanical harvesters and is rendered unconscious.
To continue on with the plot summation would not only provide critical spoilers (something I despise personally and make a practice of avoiding in my critiques) but it would also jeopardize some of the most spectacular moments of the prose whereby the viewer, through the bewilderment of the lead character, discovers that all is not as it initially appears.
What is revealed as the layers of mystery are rolled back like the skin of so many proverbial onions is actually a subliminally sad account of the cruelty of the human mind and the frailty of the human body. And while there is undeniable hope to be found in the tale's conclusion, it comes with the bittersweet lacing of the would ifs, could ifs and what-nows that are left for the viewer to ponder once the credits roll. This fact alone is nearly a guarantee that the film will continue popping up in your thoughts for days, maybe even weeks after viewing. In fact I'm thoroughly convinced that this is one of those rare pieces that, like a fine wine, requires a lengthy period of digestion (processing) to fully appreciate.
Sam Rockwell's performance of lead character Sam Bell is remarkable upon first impression and perhaps even more so upon examination of the unique capture process in the film's "making of" documentaries.
Speaking of, the single disc DVD boasts a surprisingly robust extra-feature set including two full-length commentary tracks (one with Writer/Director Duncan Jones, Director of Photography Gary Shaw, Concept Designer Gavin Rothery and Production Designer Tony Noble and the second with Writer/Director Duncan Jones again and Producer Stuart Fenegan), "Whistle" a Short Film by Duncan Jones, The Making of Moon, Creating the Visual Effects, Science Center Q&A with Director Duncan Jones, a Filmmaker's Q&A at the Sundance Film Festival, and like a whole lot of Sony trailers.
About the biggest complaint I've encountered surrounding the project would have to be gripes that the prose isn't action-packed, particularly comedic, or even that the pacing is a bit tedious. While I cannot dispute all such claims, I can assure that the cleverness of the script is solid enough to command even the most restless viewer's curiosity. Coming in at a runtime of 97-minutes, there is no fluff or unnecessary plotting to cloud the potency of the tale.
In all it is very easy to recommend this piece of independent science fiction as it represents the culmination of all that is wrong with big budget filmmaking these days by contrast. The fact that Sony Classics was wise enough to recognize this reality is hopeful of things to come in and of itself. Duncan Jones deserves credit on having written and directed a wonderfully entertaining motion picture that will, hopefully be only the first of many such future developments.
Read Best Reviews of Moon (2009) Here
"Moon" stars Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell, an employee of a moon-based energy company called Lunar. Sam lives in an isolated base that controls three massive "harvesters," which travel across the surface of the moon to collect rocks containing Helium-3. His only companion is a large robot named Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey) who looks like a copy machine suspended from the ceiling. Gerty also has a screen that displays emoticons to express his feelings. With his three-year contract nearly up, Sam is preparing to return to earth and the loving arms of his wife and new-born daughter, both of whom we see in video calls. However, Sam has an accident while trying to attend to one of the harvesters, and he wakes up confused in the infirmary. Gerty tells him that he was unconscious for only a short time; however, Gerty is acting rather oddly (his emoticon's eyes do that darting back forth thing that cartoon characters do when they lie). Is he lying?First time director Duncan Jones (AKA Zowie Bowie the son of David Bowie) helmed this indie sci-fi flick with a meager $5 million dollar budget, or roughly the amount "Avatar" spent on bagels for the craft services table. Nevertheless, the film's look and effects are quite believable. Scenes on the moon were filmed with models overlayed with CGI, which gives them a fairly realistic look. Written by Jones with Nathan Parker, The plot has some predictable elements (a meddling evil company, a lying robot). However, the story manages to hold some surprises and intelligently explores Rockwell's predicament. To borrow a line from his father's first hit single, Jones "really made the grade" with his debut.
Jones wrote the movie for Sam Rockwell. I'm not a fan of Rockwell's work but he definitely brings something different to the role as a twitchy astronaut who (to borrow from another song) finds that "it's lonely out in space." [Actually, now that I think about it, Elton John's "Rocket Man" is much better description of "Moon" than is "Space Oddity."] One of my favorite parts of sci-fi films is the robots, and I loved Gerty and his emoticon face. Spacey's vocals strike the perfect balance between a human-sounding robot and still sounding vaguely ominous (apparently his vocals were altered slightly). Another major strength is the haunting score by Clint Mansell, which manages to highlight and elevate key scenes without being the least bit intrusive. I enjoyed "Moon" and was happy to read that Jones is planning a follow-up of sorts called "Mute," which will explore another story set in this timeline.
The DVD is packed with extras including two commentaries with the director (one with the writer/producer and another with members of the technical crew) and several behind the scenes making of flicks. I have seen a lot of movies this year and "Moon" is one of the few that I truly and thoroughly enjoyed. I don't even know where to begin with my praise. It is hard for me to believe that this movie was made on the meagre budget of only 5 million Dollars! Most Hollywood directors would have a laughing fit and say it is impossible to make a movie with pocket money like that, but "Moon" doesn't look cheap. Not one bit. It is a very sleek movie. The SFX are not used to dazzle but to enhance the look and turn the already wonderful set of a lunar base into something that really sits on the moon. It is re-freshing to have a SciFi movie in which the SFX take a back seat. The score by Clint Mansell is a beautiful understated affair that fits perfectly to the tone of the overall story. No. This movie is not cheap. It is elegant and Duncan Jones and the whole production team need to be congratulated for this amazing achievement!
For Sam Rockwell the movie is a tour de force. This is a one man show and it could have gone all horribly wrong with a less talented actor, but his acting just blew me away. I am hoping against hope that this movie will have a wider release. So far it has been only shown on various film festivals like the Viennale, Sundance or Tribeca and only had a wider release in the UK. I really do not want to see this movie to become an insider like "The Fall". It really deserves recognition. It doesn't happen very often, that a movie this good comes along and Sam Rockwell and Duncan Jones should receive at least some awards. I will cross my fingers.
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