Unique, thought provoking story. Superb acting. Some tedium.

Rating: 10/10 (30 July 2011)

A fresh, unique storyline for a change. A thought provoking plot which doesn't fully reveal itself until the end. It will keep you guessing. Then watch the movie again with your new knowledge of the ending to fit the pieces into place. It will take 2 or 3 viewings to grasp all of the details and the implications of each.
This is NOT an action movie so don't expect any. Frankly, I get quite tired of the mind-numbing shoot-em-up sci-fi's. I usually fast forward through those types of scenes to get to the meat of those types of movies. There is no shooting or violence or cowboy action in this movie.
The story is intended to play with your mind similar to the style of Rod Serling. The actor, Sam Rockwell, does an outstanding performance acting against himself. He makes it quite believable and deserved more recognition for his performance.
However, this movie is very slow paced and not for any A-type, impatient or short attention span personalities on a power trip. It is a very deep movie and requires above average IQ to appreciate the concept. It was a real treat to finally see a fresh SCI-FI storyline. I have seen just about every Sci-fi movie and series ever made and have more than 1000 in my personal video library, so when I say this is a fresh storyline, I mean it quite literally.
It is not the issue of clones which is unique, it is rather the issue of who's who; when's when; how the pieces fit; and is it reality or madness which is quite unique in this movie. You will most definitely need to see it more than once to catch all the nuances you missed the first time.
The only negatives I would note were the gruesome scenes where the one character is literally falling apart. It reminded me of the remake of "The Fly" when he was losing his teeth & hair, etc. I could do without graphic scenes like that. I would have also added more healthy greenery & colorful photos throughout the facility.
The pace could be improved a bit by inserting more covert issues and scenes for the characters to pursue. Having the characters uncovering more secrets and better video exchanges from earth would improve the dry scenes where they are just glaring at the other. They should also be more interested in combining their efforts to uncover the intrigue.
The scenes as they currently appear, would be better fitted to a 3 day timeline than 14 hours. It would be impossible for the characters to have done all of those things in that timeline. 3 days would be more realistic for the pace of the characters shown. Otherwise, the acting would need to show a more urgent sense of haste during this compressed timeline. At times, they showed an odd disinterest in events despite having just learned some shocking details.
The personality of the robot was excellent as was the dialogue. Reminded me a bit of HAL 9000. I did like the fact that it was helping the characters beyond the limits of its programming. The only negative on the robot was the 70's design with the smiley faces. Giving it expressions was a good idea... but I would find a different method a bit more advanced.
This movie was a rare pleasure to watch. It was well written, acted & directed with quality authenticity and believability. Great attention to details was endeavored to make this movie seem real to the audience. I found it to be quite authentic. There were a few other slow paced space movies which similarly endeavored to be authentic: Marooned, Stranded, Apollo 13, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, Silent Running... were all slow paced in an effort to reflect authenticity, yet each had a unique story to tell. Space is cold, sterile and lonely, so to show it otherwise would not be representative of reality.
The lowbrow complainers expect violence and computer generated effects, alien battles; bizarre costumes and sets and convulsive camera shots to substitute for their lack of plot comprehension. Just consider the source of these types of comments. The storyline is quite unique despite what these xgens may say (so just ignore the dullards, high-school dropouts & anarchists who don't like anything that requires deep thinking). Some might even be from competitive studios using blogs or reviews as a weapon against the independents to keep them from gaining footing; a lot like political parties trying to maintain power and control.
If you have an open imaginative mind which has the patience to enjoy reading books without requiring violence and space battles, you should not have any problem understanding and appreciating the concept of this script.
I would have liked to have seen more of the rebound issues at the end of the movie. We only caught a brief moment of those events, but I understand they are making a sequel to be named, Mute which is supposed to be about those very issues. I think they should pick a better name, but, I look forward to seeing more of the spillover ramifications of the events brought to light in this.
Definitely worth watching more than once.