A tense and disturbing thriller

Rating: 6/10 (3 May 2010)

Thrillers work best when they are allowed to slowly go from a simmer to a boil. It's a pity that Hollywood doesn't realize this, and panders to the ADD-afflicted masses, which is why we get a ton of garbage like "Transformers" and less movies like "Moon." Duncan Jones' debut film is no masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. But it does generate a good amount of tension and a pervasive sense of unease.
In the near future, most of the world's power is being harvested from rock on the moon. The base is occupied by one person at a time for a three year contract. This time around, it's by Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), and he's only got three weeks left. But the isolation is really beginning to take its toll on him, and he senses that his mental state is quickly beginning to unravel.
I don't want to give anything away, but the film can be confusing. "Moon" is a sci-fi/mystery, so naturally the tension revolves around the answers to unknown questions. But good thrillers of this ilk leave viewers hungry for answers. I was left confused and somewhat irritated by the film for much of the running time. Much of that has to do with Jones' handling of the material.
However, the film looks great. For a film with a mere 5 million dollar budget, "Moon" looks like it was made with a budget 50 times that. I felt like I had been on the moon for three years, and that kind of claustrophobic tension is the film's greatest success.
This is a one-character show (well, two, if you count GERTY, a robot who is voiced by Kevin Spacey). A bad performance could tank the project, but fortunately the film's central character is being played by up-and-coming character actor Sam Rockwell, who continues to impress with one terrific performance after another. Rockwell is terrific as a man on the edge, and his desperation is actually rather heartbreaking. Kevin Spacey is brilliant as the helpful GERTY. I haven't heard a voice this soothing since Goran Visnjic in "Close Your Eyes." There are many laudable qualities to this film, but the amount of time I spent confused was too much for me to give more than a weak recommendation. Still, this is a film where the trailer gives almost nothing about the plot (for once). Not that that has anything to do with the quality of the film...
My rating: PG-13 for language.