Moon

Movie Info

Genre(s): Sci-fi  |  Suspense/Thriller

Written by: Duncan Jones (original story)
Nathan Parker

Directed by: Duncan Jones

Release Date:
Theatrical: June 12, 2009

Running Time: 97 minutes, Color

Origin: UK

Summary

RATING: R for language

Starring Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott, Rosie Shaw, Kaya Scodelario, and Benedict Wong

It is the near future. Astronaut Sam Bell is living on the far side of the moon, completing a three-year contract with Lunar Industries to mine Earth’s primary source of energy, Helium-3. It is a lonely job, made harder by a broken satellite that allows no live communications home. Taped messages are all Sam can send and receive. Thankfully, his time on the moon is nearly over, and Sam will be reunited with his wife, Tess, and their three-year-old daughter, Eve, in only a few short weeks. But, Sam’s health starts to deteriorate. Painful headaches, hallucinations and a lack of focus lead to an almost fatal accident on a routine drive on the moon in a lunar rover. While recuperating back at the base (with no memory of how he got there), Sam meets a younger, angrier version of himself, who claims to be there to fulfill the same three year contract Sam started all those years ago. Confined with what appears to be a clone of his earlier self, and with a “support crew” on its way to help put the base back into productive order, Sam is fighting the clock to discover what’s going on and where he fits into company plans. (Sony Pictures Classics)

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What The Critics Said

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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 43 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Tom C. gave it a9:
Note: You will probably only like this if you appreciate great acting and good, quality films on a small-scale like I do. But don't worry, I'm not a super stuck-up "high art-films/ drama only" type of guy. When I'm back in California, I'm seeing Transformers 2! (Hey, I grew up with'em!) “Moon” is a very interesting film. I had only seen bits and pieces of it in advertisements, and what I could gather was that it would be an hour-and-a-half tale of a lonely astronaut and his quirky robot assistant. In many ways this is true. However, this is hardly a basic description. Yes, the astronaut is lonely and the robot is quirky. But what if the astronaut’s loneliness might be driving him insane, or his robot holds quite a few sinister secrets. Or what if the astronaut’s (I should stop saying astronaut, he is technically a lunar miner) being on his Moon station is part of a dark conspiracy? Yes, this seems like a typical sci-fi thriller premise (and yes, this is a sci-fi thriller- but it is also much more). But this premise merely sets the tone for some truly remarkable acting and a superb script. Sam Rockwell (the script was literally written for him- writer/ director Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) had him in mind as the main character) breathes life into Sam Bell, a worker employed by Lunar Industries to mine Helium-3, Earth’s primary energy source (it’s the future, people!). He is under a three year contract which will be ending in two weeks, and he can go back to see his wife and three-year-old daughter. He is looking forward to this very much, as his loneliness is not helped by Gerty, the station robot/ AI who’s a little too technical for Sam(voiced by Kevin Spacey with an odd charm), and only being able to send taped messaged to said wife and daughter (having no live conversations). In the beginning of the film, he starts having typical loneliness-induced visions of his wife being around the station and all. One of the visions lands him in a freak accident with a lunar rover, and he wakes up to find himself with another version of -guess who?- himself, milling about the station. Now, at this point, (since I do not want to give spoilers, I will say this) you think you know what’s going on, and that the film is failing in it’s attempt to surprise you. When you do find out what’s going on (shortly after, I might add), you feel that the plot is somewhat cheesy (by the way, you haven’t yet figured EVERYTHING out yet, there’s still much more to come). However, the plot is nowhere near cheesy (well, maybe just a little with Gerty’s silliness, but it’s forgivable, because it’s charming and hilarious), and the plot, like the premise, sets up Rockwell for some of the best acting I’ve seen in recent films. It is cliché to say “it really does feel like he’s two different people”, but it is the case here. But since it is just a different version of himself, parts of the two characters are the same, and I’m guessing this allowed Rockwell to transition between the two different characters with relative ease. And it shows. I had never really heard too much about Rockwell before this film, but now he has to be feeling good having this on his resumé: this film truly showcases his incredible yet (ironically) down-to-earth acting prowess. The two Sams remind me of another film I adore, Adaptation, again not only having a great script, but a remarkable acting performance by Nicholas Cage playing two characters (Nick, how could you fall so far?). But, sadly, this film is not without some very minor flaws. The reason for the freak accident in the beginning seems very deus ex machina-ish. And the down-to-earthness of Rockwell’s acting only briefly at times feels at odds with the slightly out-of-this-world plot. But the d.e.m. is short and barely noticable, and the rest of the time, Rockwell’s acting fits the move perfectly, even giving the desolation of the far side of the moon a human feel. Adding to the human feel is, again ironically, Gerty, who can give a sinister feeling in one minute and a genuinely innocent one the next. All in all, “Moon” is a triumph of small-scale sci-fi. Though Duncan Jones writing the part specifically for Rockwell does seem like low-risk writing, it pays off perfectly. As an aspiring writer/ director myself, this is the type of film I could see myself making. Rockwell is grounded in his two characters, and Jones takes small-scale writing to soaring new heights, shooting not for distant stars, but landing softly on the Moon. A-

Edward K gave it a9:
You had to pay attention to understand everything that was happening, but it was well worth the effort.

Owen O gave it a9:
A very Intelligent Indie Sci fi movie, One of the most comforting to watch in a long time. This Movie COULD have turned into a sci-fi cliche, but it didnt, it took tenants from the great Sci-fi's of the past and it did something no has done in a while: it did something original. I have to Question why "Christian Science Monitor" was even added as a legitimate review.. is Peter rainer a 7 year old child? a complete farce..

holly c gave it a7:
Really liked this film---as a reviewer said above, this is a "hard sci-fi" film, more akin to an Arther C. Clark short story or something---really solid, intelligent story. The acting, direction and script were great--Sam Rockwell=excellent. It didn't really hit the epic standards of 2001, but then, I don't think it was swinging for the fences. Definitely worth a matinee price if you can still see it in theaters--and most definitely worth the DVD rental.

Phil S gave it an8:
Finally, a smart piece of filmed science fiction. Sam Rockwell is superb in what is essentially a monologue, and Jones' direction is deliberate and exacting. Moon is a bit slow for those used to mindless brutality characteristic of action filsm these days, and the story is not as original as I had hoped, but it is a marvel to behold. Art direction is thoughtful and dramatic, and Jones' manages to make me walk out of the theater with what Kubrick once called "a lingering feeling."

Aaron F gave it a6:
The movie was quite intriguing and interesting at times, although the plot seemed somewhat drawn out and the end was a bit confusing.

Jeff A gave it an8:
Agreeing with most, I was happy to see an intelligent sci-fi movie that wasn't muddled with CGI (not that I can't enjoy special effects). This is a solid film all around.

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