Review: Moon
In the creator commentary for the classic State sketch, “The Bearded Men of Space Station 11,” Robert Ben Garant remarks that you can always recognize the serious, gritty, realistic science fiction films of the 1970′s because they feature men with beards. So it tells us something when we first see Sam Rockwell in Moon and he’s at least as shaggy as Tom Skerritt in Alien. This is a serious, gritty, realistic science fiction film, and one that deliberately harkens back to that fertile period of thoughtful cinematic sci fi that stretched from 1968′s 2001: A Space Odyssey to 1981′s Outland. Moon alludes to both those films, as well as Silent Running and the original Solaris, among others.
Rockwell, as astronaut Sam Bell, really carries the film. I mean, he has to, since he’s the only actual human character to appear, the other actors being confined to video screens, dream sequences, and the voices of computers. I’ve always accepted Sam Rockwell as a good actor, but never found him particularly charismatic. Here, though, he overcomes the sleaziness of his past roles to create an incredibly sympathetic portrayal of a profoundly lonely man who has begun to doubt his very humanity. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but some very complicated things are asked of Rockwell, and he lives up to every moment.
The only other important actor in the film is Kevin Spacey, who gives his best performance in 10 years as GERTY the computer. There are shades of 2001‘s HAL, but what makes GERTY so interesting is how different he is from that character. GERTY has gone off his rocker a bit, but he illustrates that just because an aging supercomputer has gained a bit of personality, maybe even gone a little crazy, that’s not the same thing as being evil. GERTY was programmed to be a friend to Sam, and in the end, that’s what he turns out to be.
Duncan Jones is a first-time director, but you’d never know it from his steady hand with visuals and pacing. The scenes depicting the exterior surface of the Moon are particularly striking. The effects for these scenes were done the old fashioned way- with models and miniatures- and they look perfect. In interviews, Jones has discussed the Moon’s “mythic nature,” which is something I’m with him on. There’s a primal beauty to that black and gray wasteland, and Jones portrays it beautifully. The only aspect of the film that felt at all amateurish was the distractingly overbearing piano melody that dominated the soundtrack during the most emotional scenes. Fortunately, such excellent acting, writing, and direction can more than make up for a little bad music.
