Well-Made Science Fiction Drama

Rating: 7/10 (17 November 2009)

Duncan Jones has created a science-fiction movie that doesn't bask in visual effects and that puts action aside to meditate on human nature. Like Stanley Kubrick, of whom he's an aesthetic heir, the centre of his story is Mankind. I applaud the realism of the settings and costumes, the way he captured the isolation and tedium of the astronaut life. And I watched in awe the way he captured the craters of the moon, the star-filled skies and the distant Earth. From a technical and visual perspective, this is one of the most gorgeous explorations of life in space since 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, an astronaut living on a Moon mining base. His three-year contract is about to end and he longs to return to his wife Tess and daughter Eve. His only company has been the patient and benign computer GERTY (a friendly version of HAL). But it's when he's about to leave that he starts seeing things and his existence on the base comes into questioning.
Without wishing to give much away, I can only saw the movie starts addressing questions of memory, reality and individuality. Although I expected a more metaphysical story, Moon's story is actually very mundane, I'd even say crude. The story itself ended being my least favourite aspect of the movie. At times I found myself guessing whole scenes minutes before they happened, which does not bode well for a movie built on mystery.
What I loved was Rockwell's performance, Kevin Spacey's voice as GERTY, the sets and costumes, the cinematography, and especially Clint Mansell's beautiful score. Duncan Jones has shown a lot of potential in Moon and I don't doubt in a few years he'll grow to become a great filmmaker.