Sam's going a bit crazy with little to do and nobody real to talk to. He gets the occasional communication from his wife on Earth, always pre-taped so nothing's live. Live communication is impossible that far out. He also gets the occasional football game but who the hell wants to watch taped football? Oh wait, I would(and do. Thank you NFL Replay). While out on a routine task, Sam gets distracted and crashes his rover. He wakes up in the medical bay tended to by Gerty, and that's when the ish hits the fan.
Directed by first-timer Duncan Jones(son of David Bowie), Moon takes a decidedly retro look reminiscent of films like 2001: The Space Odyssey and Silent Running. The moon scenes bear the eery silence of the old moon landing footage. The moon is a dark and forboding place full of secrets and mysterious beyond every sightline. What this has made me realize is how much I miss sci-fi films just like this. Not that I have anything against current sci-fi, but they've taken more of a hard action approach rather than any sort of exploration of man vs. space or man vs. the unknown. Moon is very much a story about people, or one man in particular, and if he has what it takes to transcend his own limitations. I miss the deceptively simple look of the old school spaceship interiors with their plain white walls that look like the inside of a penitentiary. It evokes a sense of paranoia that the clunky, wirey ships represented nowadays just can't duplicate. And let's face it, robot sidekicks are cool, too. Even if they are a little ominous(as all robot sidekicks are!).
Without giving anything away about the story, I gotta praise Sam Rockwell who was simply brilliant in his portrayal of Sam. He's always had the good as an actor(check out his multi-layered performance in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind), but here he takes it to another level as Sam's mental and emotional state gets put through the wringer. It's arguably the best of his career.
If I have one complaint, and it's a minor one, it's that things are a little slow in the beginning. Thankfully it doesn't take long for everything to go all pear shaped. If you're a fan of science fiction, and I mean real science fiction, then Moon is a movie you should drive the extra mile or two to check out.
8/10
