Completely unexpected

Rating: 10/10 (11 February 2011)

Sam Bell is a contract worker who, for three years, has been mining the moon for helium-3, the solution to Earth's energy crisis. He is nearing the end of his contracted time, and excited about getting home; for so long his only company has been that of video messages from his family, his photographs, and the on-board computer. Upon visiting one of the mining stations, Sam has an accident and finds himself waking at base, under the care of said computer, named Gerty.
What then unfolds is something not very easily described without spoiling what makes the film so good, but it is fair to say that on more than one occasion, due to a lot of seemingly familiar tropes, you may believe you know where the film is going. You almost definitely don't. It is refreshing to see this sort of film take more than one turn along the way and become something you really are not expecting.
Sam Rockwell has become one of many people's favourite actors now, a man who seems able to manifest physical transformation from one role to the next without the aid of effects. Put Rockwell from 'Frost/Nixon', 'Iron Man 2', and this film alongside each other, and you could almost believe they are different men! In 'Moon' he really does, perhaps more so than anywhere else, illustrate just how complex a performance he can give, and despite the other things about the film that I love, it is ultimately Rockwell on whom the film's success hinges. This is the performance at which, in time to come, people will likely look and wonder how it was that he didn't receive an Oscar nomination. Even Gerty was only voiced by Kevin Spacey after the man himself saw a rough cut, and was so impressed by the actor that he wanted to be part of the project. The great reception 'Moon' received was not only testament to the quality of Rockwell, of course, but also to that of first time film maker Duncan Jones (yes, "Zowie Bowie"), who would go on to make 'Source Code', and is now pretty much finished with the daring project 'Warcraft'.
'Moon' is a fascinating, independently produced sci-fi which, unlike most entries in the genre, features no hi-tech, big-budget effects, monsters, or fancy trickery; it is just a good idea, great film making, one of Clint Mansell's most impressive scores, and a superb performance as its beating heart.
Catch 'Moon' and it may well become one of your favourite movies.