Sam Rockwell is one of the most underrated actors alive

Rating: 7/10 (11 November 2015)

Sam Rockwell brings Moon up alongside Locke, Buried and Gravity in the category of movies made brilliant by their leading actor commanding the screen all by themselves. Rockwell plays Sam Bell, an astronaut deployed to the Moon to harvest resources for 3 year rotations. However, after an accident, Sam is rescued by a man identical to him and learns (as do we) that both are actually clones of the original Sam Bell (never seen). Throughout Moon, Sam 5 (our original protagonist, who is reaching the end of his lifespan of three years) and Sam 6 (newly awakened) interact and unravel the lie that they have been fed all throughout. As Sam 5, a lonely shell of a man who is clinging to the desire to go home, Rockwell will break your heart. As Sam 6, Rockwell is commanding, tough and a bit of a prick. A theme throughout Moon is Sam's relationship with his wife back on Earth, who constantly makes references to how the two of them needed a break. Sam 6 is Sam at the beginning of his stint, Sam 5 at the end. Its easy to empathise with him, yet we also understand that they did indeed need time apart. When playing against himself, Rockwell makes the two men so distinct that its easy to forget that they are both played by the same actor.
Also along for the ride is Kevin Spacey as GERTY, Sam's robot. A clear throwback to HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, I found GERTY a fascinating character and expected an examination of artificial intelligence and ethics. Spacey's detached, polite delivery of GERTY's words, combined with a simple emoticon face, are perfect in keeping GERTY distant from Sam and giving context to Sam's loneliness. However, I couldn't help but be disappointed that the film ends without GERTY contributing more than exposition. Right until the film's credits, I expected GERTY to turn on Sam for some cold or calculating reason in the way that Skynet from Terminator and Ava from Ex Machina had no ethical or emotional restrictions.
Jones crafts the world as a director to create effect. Without Gravity or The Martian's budgets, the space effects leave a bit to be desired (there's not depth, making it look like a mere poster), but there's an incredible shot where Sam 5 breaks down and sobs that he wants to go home while the camera is fixed on Earth, millions of miles away. There are also incredible scenes that play almost like horror - where Sam learns of his predecessors' fates and where he loses a tooth. As a writer he spins an ethical dilemma for the ages, which is capped off by perfect dialogue like "You're not going to kill him. You can't. I know that because I can't." His teasing reveal style works to varying effect - sometimes he gives us clues to things we've long figured out courtesy of exposition, and in others he lays traps that will boggle our brains on a second watch.
Its easy to escape into this story thanks to Tony Noble's incredible set, and the makeup team of Louise Coles, Karen Dawson and Richard Muller do an exceptional job of showing Sam 5's decaying physical appearance. The limited lifespan of the clones is something not touched on enough, and as a result, the schmaltzy happy ending for Sam 6 didn't feel appropriate for me. I also did not care for the tease regarding the original Sam Bell. I don't mind that they leave his fate ambiguous, because it plays superbly into the ethical grey area of the film's subject matter. However, I don't feel like it was deliberate - the only thing we have to go on is 15 year old Evie calling out to "dad" off screen. Had the film ended on Sam 6 visiting "his" house and opening the door with a cut to black, I think I'd have been blown away. What we got I think is more credit to my imagination than Jones' intention. The clichÃ©d happy ending newsreader voice-over trope also felt a bit gallish after the slightly horrifying, thrilling film I'd just watch.