Moon

If you are feeling exhausted from the explosions and death defying stunts of the big budget blockbusters, then Moon might be just what you were looking for. Director Duncan Jones’ first feature film is a micro Space Odyssey. The film owes many of its stylistic flourishes to Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 classic, but it is very different in tone. Its pacing is constant but never overwhelming.

Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, a man in the last two weeks of his three-year isolation on the moon. He works for an energy company that harvests helium-3, a miracle power source. This one substance has come to cover all of earth’s energy needs. The opening sequence of the film is actually a TV commercial that details the benefits of helium-3. The remainder of the movie deals with the consequences of the use of this unusual element.

Moon is essentially a one-man show performed by Rockwell; however, Kevin Spacey adds a unique dimension to the film as the station’s computer. He delivers his lines in such a way that it makes the computer seem like the station’s matriarch. Sam Bell comes across as insecure and childlike. He seems incapable of action, and waits for the computer to offer a catalyst for change. In the course of the film, a few other actors appear on the communications screen, but aside from those sparse moments of shared humanity, Rockwell is alone. The film succeeds in creating an environment of loneliness.

Moon was made for a remarkable five million dollar budget. The production design was not hindered by the tiny budget, to the contrary, everything seems as if it came from a much bigger project. There’s a reason there aren’t that many independent science fiction films, most are simply too complex to pull off. Duncan Jones came up with a film that really had the best possibility for success.

Nathan Parker expanded Jones’ original story into the screenplay. Moon has ambition, but is definitely crafted with a small scope in mind. It’s better not to know too much about the storyline, because reality is always in question. Sam Rockwell does a good job reacting to his environment. The most interesting aspect of Moon is the timeframe during which Sam Bell has been in a confined space. By the point we meet the character, he believes he has become an expert on his surroundings, and yet new aspects of his space are revealed as the story progresses. Rockwell seems reluctant to believe the fantastic elements that are occurring in his life, which is something missing from most other high concept films. It’s refreshing to watch a character, who doesn’t just passively accept the bizarre events that occur. He is grounded in reality.

Sam Rockwell has been in some great films, but he has primarily played second fiddle. In films where he was the lead, like Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Choke he seemed eerily out of place. This time Moon shows that Rockwell can carry a movie. Moon is good first effort by director Duncan Jones, and is a pleasant, well put-together film. If you are expecting a grand space opera, then this is not the film for you. Moon is modest production, which leaves me curious to see what Jones will do in the future, after demonstrating a great ability to make the most from a slim budget.