2009 Review #21: Moon

Moon

Storyline:

Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.

Rated R
1 hour 37 minutes

Critics Grade:

A-

My Grade:

B+

Starring:

Sam Rockwell

Kevin Spacey as GERTY

**This review may have some plot spoilers**

Moon is the kind of sci-fi movie that isn't really for every fan of the sci-fi genre. This is a sci-fi drama, and heavy on the drama and kind of light on the science fiction. It is my preferred type of film for this genre. Don't get me wrong, I like Star Wars and the new Star Trek movie, but I start to grow tired of aliens and lasers and spaceships, oh my! The only real sci-fi aspects of the plot of this movie are the fact that it takes place solely on the moon and it is about human clones. No I did not reveal some major plot twist either, you know the clone storyline a good twenty minutes into the movie.

What I liked about this movie was it took the human clone story and put a bit of a twist on it. These clones are the same guy, played brilliantly by Sam Rockwell (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Snow Angels, Galaxy Quest) but they both showcase different personalities. One is the borderline crazy, "out-there" guy (a more Sam Rockwell type character), and the other is more reserved and calm and is trying to figure out how to get out of the situation. Anyway, usually we have movies about clones who revolt and try to take down the "company" that did this to them. Usually movies about clones are full of action and suspense (usually not good movies). Here it's more of the psychological aspect.

These clones come off as real humans, because they ARE human. They have memories planted in their heads of a wife and child they so desperately miss but she really isn't their wife (so to speak). These characters show true pain when they realize what they are. Their goal isn't to take down some evil corporation but to get back to earth to see the family that isn't theirs. Not once do they process the fact that they can't really be with this family because they are clones. They don't care, because they truly believe it's their family. I really enjoyed the inner emotional battle of these characters, it was such a fresh take on the clone storyline. I thought the story had some pretty moving parts as well. Some really good scenes of the Sam character breaking down.

Sam Rockwells performance was just as I was expecting: great. This guy is probably the best unknown actor out there. Not many people really know this guy, he isn't a household name (in terms of actors), he just has one of those faces. Rockwell showcased both sides of this emotional battle brilliantly. Like my buddy Matt said, it was weird to see him play a reserved character (for half of the film), but he did so with ease. One day this guy will get an Oscar nomination, i don't think it will be for this film though even though at this point of the year, he deserves it. There's another character, GERTY, voiced by Oscar winner Kevin Spacey (American Beauty, The Usual Suspects). I won't go into to much detail about his character, but I also enjoyed the spin this movie took with the robot character. Spacey voiced him well though! Sounded totally computer-istic.

The movie was shot pretty well. For the most part, it looked like we were actually watching scenes on the moon. The director did a good job with long shots and some quiet takes to really show us the tension these characters feel. It wasn't a tense movie by any means though. I had two issues with the overall direction of the movie however. One is that there were a handful of scenes that really dragged on to long. I appreciate a good long shot like the next movie buff, but some of them in this film were not needed. It got a little boring at times I guess you can say. But it never really took away from my enjoyment of the movie. The other thing was the initial clone reveal. I feel like when Sam Rockwell 1 discovers Sam Rockwell 2 for the first time there was no shock value for his character or for us as an audience. It sort of just seemed to happen like we should have expected it. At first the character kind of just brushed it off, and when they first saw each other it was as if they had known for years that they were clones. As the movie progressed though, that all changed. I was just a bit thrown off by the initial clone reveal on a film making standpoint.

This movie will probably soon be out of theaters. If you appreciate a good dramatic sci-fi movie, you should check this out when you should. But I will warn you, there is virtually NO action in this movie. It is primarily a character driven sci-fi film, and there's only one main character (well two of the same main character) and a robot. But this is a solid film. This is a good film. One of the better films of the genre I've seen in quite some time actually. It was incredibly original and a very fresh take on the sci-fi clone movie. It probably just isn't for everyone.