by Morgan P Salvo
Moon’s previews are misleading, and for once that’s a good thing. Moon is not a horror/ time-warp/ psychological thriller in space, but rather a socio-politico commentary on the present, taking place in the not so distant future.
The plot focuses on the psychological ramifications of cabin fever and the bleak outlook of the onset of cloning. Sam Rockwell plays two roles—a lone astronaut about to go home in two weeks, and his clone. Telling about the clone is no spoiler as its set up fairly early, creating the mystery and convolution that follows.
Beginning with a TV commercial touting Lunar Industries which makes safer, cleaner air by harvesting moon rocks, Moon veers into strange territory almost immediately. Sam Bell (Rockwell) is the sole worker on a moon outpost, in charge of maintaining all the equipment, vehicles and moon station. His only companionship is a beat-up, help-all robot computer (reminiscent of 2001’s HAL) named Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey). Gerty shuffles and glides around to assist Sam at every step. Resembling a dilapidated x-ray machine, with a “kick me” sticker on his back and a yellow smiley face on a screen to exhibit his emotions, Gerty provides comic relief—or does he? Deception and perhaps hallucinations come into play as Sam sees his mail from his wife as video feeds. Sam has little interest in anything but going home. But before you can say “the cow jumped over the moon” one thing after another goes wrong and Sam is face to face with a cloned version of himself. Their confusion (and consequently ours) becomes the main focus as to what’s next on this planetary agenda.
First time director Duncan Jones, the son of space oddity himself David Bowie, has a real handle on his vision. The minimalist production design keeps the futuristic setting gritty and realistic. It’s a cool concept to use a Lunar location to depict corporate mass production being handled by one solo worker. The scenes of moon jeeps trekking out to check out base communication centers, or of the huge moon rock harvester, are not filled with stun-you-to-death special effects seeming as believable as spraying crops in Nebraska. Amply assisted by Clint Mansell, the phenomenal musical score creates haunting moods and dramatic tension, intertwining simple melodic mini-masterpieces.
Rockwell’s performance runs the gamut of every emotion you’ve ever felt and some you forgot. Using his ability to be a tongue-in-cheek smarmy wise ass, but always a regular guy, he drops his usual charm to play two roles: one with a temper and pent up anger, trying to piece things together and the other with a humorous been-there-done-that boasting attitude. In an astonishing feat, Rockwell is absolutely believable interacting with another version of himself. You will feel both of the Sam’s pain, confusion and anxiety every second he’s on screen, to the extent that it is nearly impossible to take sides. This small yet mesmerizing flick will not blast Rockwell into super stardom but Moon is the Sam Rockwell movie any fan has been waiting for.
Examining themes of isolation, mistrust, schemes, confusion, curiosities and despair, the power of this movie is that the human experience transcends the realism of any of these emotions. Moon is an esoteric morality play told with passion and thought provoking elements in such a humanistic way, that space is just the backdrop for what’s wrong with a lot of things in our world today.Moon
Starring Sam Rockwell
Directed by Duncan Jones
4 stars
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