Everett, Wash.
Published: Friday, July 3, 2009

'Moon': On a human level, it shines extremely bright

By Robert Horton
Herald Movie Critic

 Knowing that the director of "Moon," Duncan Jones, happens to be the son of David Bowie, one can't help but recall that the otherworldly Mr. Bowie once had a song, "Space Oddity," about the loneliness and wonder of a far-flung astronaut in space.

Did something seep into the young Mr. Jones' DNA? Who knows. I don't think we can second-guess the thinking of someone who went through childhood with the name Zowie Bowie (he has since reclaimed his father's real last name).

In any case, yes, "Moon" is about a very lonely astronaut, an employee of an energy corporation with a base on the moon. (Somehow they harvest moon dirt for an energy source.)

Sam Bell, played by Sam Rockwell, is at the end of his three-year stint at the moon station. He's been alone up there, except for the soft-voiced company of his robot, Gerty (Kevin Spacey), and occasional delayed messages from his wife on Earth.

Sam is really, really ready to go home. As he wanders around the clean, functional station (which looks inspired by designs from "2001"), we sense he's beginning to lose it.

Is he ever. "Moon" has some plot twists that shouldn't be revealed here, so we won't. The script by Nathan Parker, based on a story by Jones, will throw a few traditional science-fiction ideas into Sam Bell's solitary world.

The surprises aren't especially surprising. I think what makes "Moon" work as well as it does is the sustained mood, the sadness that overcomes Sam when he begins to realize what his condition really is.

For such a small-scale film, the exterior moon scenes, which look like old-fashioned miniature work, are impressive. Clint Mansell's music helps create the ominous mood.

Spacey's vocal performance is too similar to bland-voiced HAL in "2001" to really feel fresh. But the idea of having video-screen emoticons express the robot's feelings is amusing.

Rockwell, an actor whose comic gifts are so great you might not always notice how deeply he commits to each performance, gives a tour de force here. He plays many different shades in this movie and gets them all right.

"Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do," as the song goes. But in the end, there's something Sam Bell can do, and watching that process is fascinating.

I think Duncan Jones is less interested in the puzzle aspects of this film than in inquiring about the nature of being human. A worthy goal for a small movie.



"Moon"

Small-scaled sci-fi about an astronaut (tour de force by Sam Rockwell) stationed alone on the moon. Duncan Jones' fine film has a puzzle aspect, but it's more interested in the nature of what it means to be human, and taking action about it.

Rated: R for language, violence

Showing: Harvard Exit
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