The best unadvertised movie I've seen since "Below"....

Rating: Null/10 (13 July 2009)

I had never heard of "Moon" before checking the Internet that weekend to see what was playing in my area. When I saw it was rated R and filmed in England, that was a "Go" for me, and boy am I not sorry (although I did have to drive about twenty miles to the nearest cinema that had it). The problem for me here is that I would have to give away major plot points to discuss this at all coherently, and for the viewer the discovery of these plot points for oneself is a big plus. So here's what I'll say just to try to get you to see it in the (probably limited) time it'll be in theaters. Essentially a cross between "Silent Running" and "Outland" with elements from "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Solaris" mixed in, it features Sam Rockwell (last seen by me a decade ago as a death-row inmate in "The Green Mile") and the voice of Kevin Spacey as a robot. Rockwell's character Sam Bell works alone (or does he?) at a lunar outpost producing helium for use on earth. (The company for whom he works has a slick ad proclaiming their dedication to humanity's needs, so we know they're doubtless up to no good.) He has a three-year contract nearing it's end. He has pictures and recorded messages from his family (suspiciously, no live communication from earth is available). He has the robot attending to his every need; in maybe the movie's best touch, the robot has a "face" consisting of those excruciatingly annoying "smiley face" "emoticon" symbols (the voice is Spacey's trademark monotone). As Bell starts winding down his tour preparing for his anticipated replacement, he starts "seeing things," and that's as far as I want to go plot-wise.
"Okay," you may be wondering, "exactly what should draw me to this?" A virtuoso performance by Rockwell, making one wonder why he hasn't been a "big star" already; superb special effects--you won't believe this was shot in a studio in only about a month; a sustained mood that becomes ever more ominous yet poignant as it goes along; plot twists that shouldn't strain your credulity nor insult your intelligence; besides, to repeat, it's rated R (although I'm not sure why except for a few F-words). Come on, folks, we need to let the movie moguls know there's an adult market out here, and not just for horror flicks or sex comedies! One more thing: if you think a robot can't "act," watch for when this one gently puts it's mechanical arm on Bell's shoulder; stunning how effective it is...