Moon

For a film shot during a writers strike in a mere 33 days, Duncan Jones' Moon (2009) is a pretty awesome piece of work. Part space sci-fi, part subtly haunting horror, but mostly a detailed character study, Moon follows space miner Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) nearing the end of a three year tour of duty mining helium 3 (H3) on the dark side of the moon. In a world plagued by energy shortages and the side effects of fossil fuel consumption, Lunar Industires offers a solution: the clean power of the sun stored in the rocks and soil of the moon as H3. Sam spends his days monitoring the sprawling moon base and the four mining probes, performing maintenance and ensuring the day's H3 haul is jettisoned back to earth. Sam's assistant and constant companion is the station's robot, Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey), whose bulky user interface module traverses the station via hydraulic tracks set in the base's ceiling.

After three years in isolation, Sam is understandably starting to come apart at the seams. Damage to the communication link from solar flares heightens Sam's already deep isolation. Subsisting on classic TV shows and prerecorded communiques from Lunar Industries executives, Sam keeps insanity at bay with the hope of seeing his wife and little daughter again soon. Still, Sam soon begins to crack, and is beset by phantasms and hallucinations. After surviving a horrific crash in a lunar rover on the moon's surface, Sam begins to suspect that there is something not right at the lunar base. Is there someone else at the station with him? Why is one of the mining probes suddenly down? And who is Gerty talking to on the com screen in the middle of the night?

Duncan Jones has obviously been doing his cinema homework. Moon combines the haunted house in space theme of Alien (1979) with the epic isolation of Kubrick's 2001 (1968) while paying homage to Philip K. Dick and Ridley Scott (again) by exploring the scifi ethos of Blade Runner (1982). This film's achievement is particularly surprising considering the experience level of Jones and the screenplay writer, Nathan Parker. Jones has only a well-received scifi short to his credit, and Parker seems to have come out of nowhere at all.

Due to the aforementioned writers strike, Jones and Parker were able to obtain the idle services of some top notch effects people, including Kevin Campbell and Simon Stanley-Clamp of Cinesite, responsible for visual effects in the first four Harry Potter movies, Gladiator (2000), and V for Vendetta (2005), among others. The result is a lunar surface painstakingly crafted from models and miniatures with details filled in with some impressive CG effects.

But the visual effects are used only as establishing shots to get a feel of the desolate lunar surface. These shots are thankfully not overused and are employed rather as support for the film's true star: Sam Rockwell as the frenetic, mercurial, and hilarious Sam Bell. Oscar buzz already surrounds Rockwell's virtuoso performance, and while I hesitate to jump on board with that kind of pointless prognostication, I will say that Rockwell would be more than deserving of a statuette. He has long flourished as a bit part and specialty role actor, including memorable turns in Galaxy Quest (1999) and The Green Mile (1999), and a truly inspired performance as a Dubya-esque Zaphod Beeblebrox in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005). His performance in Moon is only his second starring role, behind the paranoid gameshow host by day, spy by night Chuck Barris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002).

The second best thing about this movie, behind Sam Rockwell, is Clint Mansell's simple, elegant, and haunting score. Mansell has long been the go-to composer for Darren Aronofsky's films, including their mutual debut Pi (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Fountain (2006), and recent hit The Wrestler (2008). Mansell's heady mix of classical and electronic has fit well with the highs and lows of Aronofsky's style of visceral beauty. For Moon, Mansell leads with echoey piano that builds episodically to a thunderous cacophony of strings and various electronic percussion that slowly ebbs out to be repeated in cyclical waves of sound. This cyclical nature underscores the film's themes and holds its sometimes epic visuals together with the quieter moments of Sam's existential reflection.

All in all, Moon is a solid debut for Jones, and the critical buzz surrounding Rockwell's performance is sure to bring attention to future endeavors of both.

Storyline & plot: 7/10
Cinematography & effects: 8/10
Music & mood: 9/10
Performances: 9/10

The Reverend says: 8/10