Oscar worthy performance and film...

Rating: 10/10 (29 January 2010)

Shot in just 33 days for a paltry $5 million by first time director Duncan Jones, MOON is as much of a breakthrough for this unknown director as DISTRICT 9 was for (relatively new) Neill Blomkamp. Yes, it's THAT good.
Clocking in at only 97 minutes, the film also gives a sense of urgency to a situation that easily could have been snooze inducing. Instead, Moon will have you on the edge of your proverbial couch, cheering on its main protagonist(s) and asking tough questions about big business, genetic research, and what it means to be human.
Sam Rockwell (FROST/NIXON) is in almost every frame and pulls in an Oscar caliber performance (although I doubt he'll get nominated since this isn't a big budget flick and hit only a limited number of theaters before going to DVD). Rockwell plays Sam Bell, a lonely man. In fact, he is the only man at a moon-base that collects Helium-3, a valuable energy commodity that gets shot back to Earth. Sam's only companion is a Hal-9000-ish machine called Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey, RECOUNT) who's sole job is to protect Sam. But not for long, because Sam's three year contract at the lunar base is coming to a close and he's ready to return to his beautiful wife and daughter back home. But an accident injures Sam and he awakens in the infirmary with Gerty caring for him.
Memory gaps and surprisingly good physical condition (after such a bad accident) allows Sam to get back to work quickly. But he soon discovers a stranger trapped in a vehicle, and this stranger looks a lot like Sam.
As the two Sam's fight, argue and eventually gain an understanding of what they are, a terrible realization hits them both. It is a poignant, graphic and horrible moment that will have many a hair standing up on peoples' necks when they see what has happened and what lengths a corporation is willing to go to in order to minimize expenses.
The time spans are fascinating and leave much open for discussion. How long can one truly last living alone on the moon? How much radiation exposure would you get? And how long, genetically, was Sam designed to last? None of the answers are readily available, but most viewers will be asking themselves these things long after the movie has finished running its final credits.
Congratulations must be given to director Duncan Jones for chasing after Sam Rockwell to do this role; he was, no doubt, the absolute perfect person to do it. Also, the miniature moon-scape scenes were phenomenal and never looked cheap or forced, as did the lunar station.
The music was the perfect mix of creepiness and forlorn so that you really don't know how to feel about Sam and his predicament at the end. Empathy is there for sure, but what good it does is anyone's guess.
Looking for a great independent film that you won't soon forget? Shoot for the Moon.