The Far Side of the Moon
The Far Side of the Moon Image
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Metascore
76 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critics What's this?

User Score
9.0 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 6 Ratings

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  • Summary: Childhood memories and the race to the moon by two rival nations are recurring themes in this feature film exploring reconciliation and the fundamental question of whether we're alone in the universe. (TLA Releasing)

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Michael Rechtshaffen
    100
    An achingly eloquent rumination.
  2. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    80
    Based on Mr. Lepage's play of the same title, Far Side of the Moon carries traces of the theater both in some of the dialogue and in its schematic construction. That said, it has been beautifully shot by the cinematographer Ronald Plante in the kind of high-definition digital video that makes the future of cinema look rather less grim than usual.
  3. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    A master class on turning a talky, one-man play into a visual delight.
  4. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Walter Addiego
    50
    Well made, but it's a talkfest that wears its stage origins on its sleeve.

See all 9 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. Brutus
    9
    I saw this by mistake - the film I came to see was cancelled and this was screened instead. But I am so glad I did see it. I know nothing about LePage (though I am now looking into it), but this film charmed me. Touching, and sometimes very funny, the movie wears its art-house aspirations on its sleeve, but was never dull. And it has the best soundtrack (Led Zeppelin fans, take note) and slyly witty use of fantasy special effects I have seen for some time. The sequence with the goldfish was particularly hilarious! I gather this started off as a play - but for me it very much worked as a movie. An unexpected delight.… Expand
  2. PaulaM.
    9
    Funny movie, dry, intelligent and strangely moving. Robert Lapage wrote, directed and played both brothers. He looks down on the pet goldfish suspended in solid ice and immediately asks his brother Phillipe over his phone: "sushi?" The movie is not a fast mover but it has plenty of rewards.… Expand
  3. aless.
    9
    Moody and sensual. Lepage's camera work made this a great art film.
  4. ChadS.
    7
    In spite of being on the talky side, "Far Side of the Moon(from Canada it came), as a cinematic proposition(I spy "Leolo"), is completely successful in concealing its theatrical roots. This filmmaker, I think, takes his visual cues from the late Jean-Claude Lauzon(plane crash casualty; he also made "Night Zoo"), especially when the fluidity of time is demonstrated in same-frame transitional shots thatt ties the past and present as a seamless whole. "Far Side of the Moon" is partly about the sad life of an academic(it's also partly about his gay identical twin, a weatherman), and indeed there is something pathetic about being so doggedly hard-wired to investigate irrelevance down to its textual core, its minutia, as a way of earning a place on the high-end side of obscurity. Phillipe(Robert Lepage), albeit smarter than your average bear, is a hack, an intellectual mediocrity(who's interested in how science plays a part in the popular culture). Railing hard against narcissism without a hint of irony, Phillipe is seemingly unaware that there's nothing more self-involving than being in love with your brain. He has issues with the moon(read: a mirror, narcissism's pusher friend). Contemplating the failed scholar's face framed in the spherical window of a washing machine is representational, I think, of Phillipe from the moon's perspective; his near side(Phillipe's visage, his good side) is the far side(the side facing the moon when he peers into the night sky), the bad side, synonymous like the moon's own far side that's bombarded by meteorites(read: slings and arrows hurled from the infamously thorny academic community) from the third planet's point-of-view. Late in the game, Phillipe is redeemed by an outsider group which validates his theory, and confirms the viewer's suspicion that the washing machine window is representational of the nocturnal orb. "Far Side of the Moon" can sometimes be on the dry side, but its ambition is admirable and not the least bit gratuitous.… Expand

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