The Dark Side of "Moon"

Rating: 7/10 (15 August 2009)

If Roman Polanski ever considered bringing his trademark obsessions (isolation, paranoia, delusion, hallucination) to the science fiction arena, the result would probably be close to what Duncan Jones achieves with "Moon," a deliberately off-kilter study of an astronaut's descent into neuroses and existential delerium. Sam Rockwell (in the first truly outstanding performance I've seen from him) plays Sam Bell, who mans a corporate-owned space station on the moon (its function? to divert environment-sustaining elemental capsules to Earth); in the final 3 weeks of his 3-year commitment to the job, his grip on sanity begins to erode. An automated robot named Gerty 3000 (voiced with chilling lack of emotion by Kevin Spacey) is his sole "companion" (whose only "expressions" are confined to creepy Emoticons). The strength of Rockwell's performance is amplified by how convincingly Jones conceives the barren surface of the moon--there are long shots that carry a hauntingly chilling emptiness, and only underline the inner frailty of his protagonist. While "Moon" certainly isn't for all tastes (its deliberate pace and design seems destined for cult status), adventurous fans of cerebral cinema will find much to like.