An interesting and thought-provoking movie, that, however, isn't always entertaining

Rating: 7/10 (2 August 2013)

Even if science fiction movies aren't your cup of tea, some products of this genre manage to move and entertain you way beyond the simple idea of life in outer space. 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of these films. Blade Runner or Solaris as well. And the newest addition to this small amount of movies is the debut by David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones. The Briton explores life in complete solitude with Sam Rockwell doing one of the best turns in his career in the hugely affecting Sundance drama Moon.
An obviously HAL-3000-commemorative electronic pal named GERTY who has his voice lent by Kevin Spacey tells Rockwell's protagonist that his days without any interactions with other human beings are coming to an end in one of the first scenes of this movie. The three-year moon mission he's been doing is in its final stadium and he, sharing the first name with the actor that plays him, can look forward on seeing his wife again and his young daughter for the first time. It is clear that Sam isn't in his peak form, yet he is a sensible guy that doesn't show any alerting signs of illnesses. For now. A couple scenes later, hallucinations start to kick in, and they turn out to be the reason for a momentous crash that starts the detection part of the movie. A mindblowing explanation for everything that happens in Moon is revealed, but in parts, so that the audience can utter their wows in an even order. While the introduction scenes in the movie seem to foreshadow a too realistic and thus boring approach to the story, Jones reveals his talent for creating suspense later on and while becoming more and more confused, the audience also develops a greater bond to the protagonist respectively the movie itself.
Besides the amazing one-man-job that Sam Rockwell delivers, the subliminal references to the sci-fi classics that influenced writer/director Duncan Jones, or the realistic design the team managed to call into existence, the distinctly biggest asset of Moon are the many important questions it poses. To reveal them would be a spoiler in a lot of cases and I think that it becomes clear what you should think about when you're watching the movie. To just give you an impression of the movie's philosophy (without getting into spoiler territory): How much do people need other people to survive? What does it mean exactly to be human? Where are the verges of morality?
I personally found Moon to be a very interesting and thought-provoking movie that was also deeply stirring and emotional. The great score by Clint Mansell (the genius behind Requiem for a Dream's music) gave the scenes an auxiliary touching effect and, as I've already mentioned, Sam Rockwell acts absolutely masterfully. The visuals are definitely not as interesting as in some other movies of its genre, yet the look is quite an achievement if you consider the small budget. An issue that pretty much everyone will face while watching Moon is that it tends to be quite tedious and you will really lose interest during some of the long wordless shots. However, that didn't bother me that much since there were lots of other well-made scenes and the general feeling I had while watching the movie, which was an unsettling sadness. Moon is relatively unique and impressing and I'd recommend it to everyone who appreciates material to think about when watching a movie.