Movie Review Rewind: Moon (2009)

On the latest edition of Movie Review Rewind, Brandon Vick flips the calendar back to 2009 for a look at Sam Rockwell in Moon.

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Moon is the type of sci-fi thriller that has not been made for decades. It’s a refreshing story that is simple, but mysterious. It basically involves one man and his sanity while living on the moon. There have been films in the sci-fi genre that disappoint or fail. But this one does neither. It delivers and succeeds, and it’s because of a gifted director and a great actor by the name of Sam Rockwell.

Moon is about Astronaut Sam Bell (Rockwell) who works for Lunar Industries. This film is set in the future, but the near future. We learn that Earth’s main source of energy is Helium-3 that comes from our moon and because of this we are not dependent on fossil fuels. However, in order to keep the Helium-3 coming, Sam has to stay and live on the Moon for three years and then it’s someone else’s turn.

We see his routine and Sam talks to himself a lot. There is a broken satellite and there is no live feed. So all Sam can do to communicate to our world is sending and receiving taped messages. It gets real tough when it comes to his family. He does have one friend though. A robot named Gerty, which is voiced by Kevin Spacey. There is some good news. We learn Sam has about two weeks left out of his three year contract. He’s about to go back home.

As his departure gets closer, Sam’s health starts to deteriorate. He begins hallucinating and starts to lose his focus, which causes a wreck in a lunar rover and may have caused some serious brain damage. He wakes up not remembering any part of the crash. But there is someone else there with him and it’s not Gerty. He looks a lot like Sam Bell.

This film gets crazy and more thrilling as the story unfolds. As the pieces are put together, you realize what is happening to Sam Bell. You have a lot of questions about what is going on on the Moon and in Sam’s head. What is real? Is he hallucinating? Is there some big conspiracy? Is it all just a dream? Does Sam Bell even exist? Duncan Jones, the director, answers these questions through time and revealing the real story.

This is Jones’ first feature film and what an impressive debut. This film had a low budget, but you can’t tell. It looks just as rich and slick as the big budget studio movies. But it’s smarter and more entertaining than a lot of those studio movies. Jones was able to breathe new life into the sci-fi genre. Jones makes you wonder and think about his story and his characters.

Now lets get to the man who makes this film possible, Sam Rockwell. In case the name sounds familiar, he has been in Matchstick Men, Choke, Frost/Nixon, The Green Mile, and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (his breakout performance). The character of Sam Bell has many emotions and more than just one mind, and Rockwell portrays it all so well. This may be his best performance so far. He is basically the only actor in this film and he carries it to the very end. Rockwell is an underrated actor, but I think people will appreciate his talents in Moon because his skills shine through in this.

For a film to be 97 minutes and about living on the Moon, and to have one main actor as the cast with a first time film director, Moon has come through as an entertaining, suspenseful sci-fi film that brings out the best in everyone. Rockwell should be appreciated and so should this film.

I would suggest watching Moon twice. There are some events and details that may get by you during the first viewing.

Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

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