Review: Moon

Moon

OPENING: 06/12/2009

STUDIO: Sony Classics

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

SOUNDTRACK: Not yet available

The Charge
250,000 miles from home. The hardest thing to face…is yourself.

Opening Statement
Whatever movie you’re expecting to find when you see Duncan Jones’ Moon, chances are you’re wrong. I mean that in the nicest way possible.

Facts of the Case
Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell, Snow Angels) has a problem. He’s two weeks away from finishing a three-year stint on the moon as part of a job with Lunar Industries, where he’s charged with extracting a substance that helps offset Earth’s energy problems. He eats the same meals every day. He misses his family. Three years of isolation on a space station thousands of miles from home have made Sam restless and lonely — though he has the station’s computer, GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey), to keep him company and make sure he’s taken care of. One day, while out on a routine expedition, Sam has an accident. Things change.

The Evidence
Do yourself a favor and stay away from any promotional materials for Moon. Don’t watch the trailers. Don’t read anything with spoilers. The best way to go into this movie is not know anything. While that can make a review a little challenging, I’ll do my best.

In essence, Moon is the anti-Transformers. It takes genuine science fiction ideas and explores them in a way that is quiet and thoughtful, clever and beautiful, moving and sad. Made for roughly 1/50 the budget of Michael Bay’s noisy wankfest (seriously), it never fails to engage and excite, as it slowly reveals itself. And though it’s nearly impossible to know exactly where it’s going, the movie never betrays itself or its own logic for the sake of twists. It doesn’t take sharp or jagged turns. It merely unfolds.

First-time director Duncan Jones demonstrates a real mastery of pace and tone, making Moon economical in every sense of the word. There are no wasted shots or padded beats. He blends impressive (and cheap!) effects with a spare visual sense that underlines Sam’s isolation without literalizing too pointedly. Though clearly inspired by Kubrick and 2001, there’s something slightly less clinical and sterile about Moon‘s space station; it’s lived in, like you can feel every day of Sam’s three-year stay. It’s the contrast between the coldness of space, technology, and the little touches Sam creates to hold onto his humanity — the model village carved out of wood, the plants growing — that give Moon much of its power. In space, you’re the only one who can hear you scream, and Moon understands that better than most.

Sam Rockwell, whom the film was written specifically for, is one of those actors who doesn’t get a leading role that often, but every time you see him in one (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke) you wonder why he doesn’t. He’s literally the whole show here, on camera for every minute of screen time in a film that lives or dies by his performance. He is magnificent, and his performance is particularly tricky and impressive for reasons I don’t care to mention.

During the relentless, special effects laden months of the summer blockbuster, Moon is proof that science fiction can be thoughtful and mature. It’s counter-programming, for those of us who are tired of having to check our brains at the door, and who can still be moved by a story well told and a movie well made. It’s one I’ll be revisiting for years to come.

Closing Statement
Moon is one of the best films of 2009 — the kind that begs to be seen again the instant it’s over and merits hours of thoughtful discussion. When’s the last time you could say that about a summer movie?

The Verdict
9/10