Originally published in Cinema Knife Fight, May 18, 2010
It’s not easy reviewing MOON (2009), without dropping a few spoilers your way, so I’ll give the requisite overview, then my overall opinion early on. When you reach the SPOILER ALERT section, you can skip the rest and go rent the movie.
This film is one of those Shrek-ish peeled-onion stories that reveals itself more and more as it goes along. More to the point, it reveals itself more and more as the character(s) of Sam Bell learns what is going on. (OK, promise, no more until after the Alert Heading.)
MOON is directed and co-written by a relative newcomer to the biz, Duncan Jones. It’s rated R, but only for language (Sam Bell curses a lot – not a complaint, though; it fits with the story), and is set in a near future where conglomerate corporation Luna Industries, Ltd has exclusive mining rights to a new element called Helium 3 which has solved most of Earth’s energy problems. It’s mined on the far side of the moon, said operation monitored from a base manned by only one man: Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell).
As the movie opens, Sam’s three-year contract is coming to a long-awaited close, only two weeks hence. He’s been living in relative isolation the entire time, as real-time communication with Earth is prevented by a damaged satellite. Only pre-recorded video messages are possible with his estranged wife Tess (Dominique McElligott) and their young daughter, whom Sam has never held. His only companion on the moon is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) computer named GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey).
Sam and Tess’s marriage was on the rocks when he left Earth, but over the past three years they’ve reconciled, long distance. Tess feels the separation “has been good for us.” She’s ready for him to return, and he’s way ready to go home.
There was interesting chemistry in the early stage of the film between Sam and the AI, GERTY (no idea what the name means). Sam would whine and complain to it, as he would to a wife or brother. The AI’s moods are reflected using a small TV screen on one side of a box that moves about the station using an overhead track. The screen displays a smiley face, a frown or quizzical face, depending on GERTY’s mood. Just a few expressions, but they are quite effective, both creepy and endearing at the same time like, well, a smiley face (I’ve always found smiley faces both creepy and endearing…). GERTY has a robotic arm with which he can do simple manual tasks, (like give Sam hair cuts with a Flobee). I mention this because now and then, the robot occasionally touches him on the shoulder in an affectionate gesture. This obvious affection is important for the rest of the film, and draws a line between GERTY and the more infamous HAL of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968). GERTY is simple and devoted to the caretaker, whereas HAL is a nut job and sociopath.
Aside from general upkeep of the base, Sam’s primary job is to head out to the four automated mining machines (each named after a Gospel from the New Testament) to harvest a “bullet” canister of Helium 3. It is on such a visit to Matthew when things go awry. Before we get to that, a couple of points.
Ever since my young days glued to (reruns.. ahem) of UFO (1970) and SPACE: 1999 (1975), I’ve been a sucker for good moon stories. Surprisingly, these are few and far between. I mean, the moon’s really not all that interesting, aside from the fact that it’s a massive stone ball weighing 16 x 10^22 pounds, hurtling around us every 28 days without stop, and it sometimes makes people crazy here on Earth. The trick, you see, is to write a good story that works in such a setting. Whoola, big scary rock in the sky is suddenly the perfect setting for a tale such as this. Back to the review….
Sam is coming apart mentally, then later physically, from being cooped up for so long (at least, that’s the initial assumption). He clings to the thought of going home in less than two weeks. No matter how odd things begin to get, this is his anchor. When he sees a beautiful young girl sitting in his chair, he slips a little more. The next hallucination sets off a chain of events we’ll get to in a second.
The early part of the movie feels a bit like SOLARIS (1972, Russia/Soviet Union – I never saw the U.S. remake). There is a strong, almost claustrophobic sense of isolation, made more so by Sam’s mental unraveling so tightly portrayed by Rockwell. Sam Bell holds on to his past and a near-manic hope for the future… even as the reality of his situation begins to reveal itself.
When Sam heads out to investigate a problem with Matthew, he has yet another hallucination and ends up crashing into the back of the massive Dirt Digging Thingy. Badly hurt, Sam blacks out…
…and wakes in the infirmary, GERTY whirring overhead like a worried nurse. Our hero looks no worse for wear, though he’s dazed and very weak. The AI explains he was in an accident, though Sam cannot remember it. While he regains his strength, he’s confined to the infirmary. Things begin to feel – wrong to him. GERTY is being evasive, and won’t answer how Sam was rescued.
It’s at this point I’ll give a quick summation so the No-Spoilers-Please folks can move along. I admit, early on in this film, the sense of isolation and loneliness did not appeal to me. I felt as trapped as Sam did on the moon. This, of course, should be kudos to the filmmakers. But, as the truth of the situation on the base becomes apparent, you simply do can’t walk away until you see how it plays out. As the base gets a little more crowded, the sense of isolation fades. Having company can do that.
On the surface, MOON is a stripped down, no-frills science fiction film with a small cast talented enough to carry off such a solo project very, very well. More to the point of the movie, I think, it touches on family – and what might define family in the most strangest sense. What instills loyalty, and love? In other words, I highly recommend this film, both for what I’ve already said and what’s to come next.
SPOILER ALERT
(
(
(
Ok, this sentence is simply to prevent the NSPs from accidentally reading something they didn’t want to. OK, onward:
The head honchos at Earth are sending a rescue crew to repair the harvester. But something is amiss. Sam knows this, and keeps asking questions. From this point forward, each new scene is demarcated by a female voice announcing how many days and hours until the “rescue team” arrives. This announcement is simply background at first, but becomes more ominous as the story develops and we begin to understand Sam’s plight more and more.
Sam keeps wondering – and asking GERTY – how he got back from a crash he doesn’t remember. The last straw comes with a waking nightmare showing himself, hurt, dying and reaching out for help. Sam takes a rover out to the Matthew harvester and finds the old rover still rammed into the broken digger’s rear end, but also finds himself in the cab, still in a dust-covered space suit. Still alive. He brings him back, and with GERTY’s help, the first Sam begins to recuperate.
From here on in we’ll call them Sam1 and Sam2 for clarity, and because I love Dr. Seuss. Sam1 is in bad shape physically. Sam2 is first to realize that they are clones of another, original Sam Bell. Sam1 is groggy, disoriented, and coughing up some illness. He seems to be dying, at first from the accident, then eventually we learn the truth, though it is only implied. That’s something else I liked about this film, not everything is spelled out, though there are enough letters in the celluloid alphabet soup to make the right words if you’re looking for them
The AI computer is in a quandary, since never have two Sams occupied the same space. GERTY is programmed to help – and protect – Sam Bell, and the computer begins to realize that the Full Truth cannot be kept secret much longer. Sam2 has already figured it out anyway, and continues to search for answers and the other clones. There have to be others, to replace each version every three years. While Sam1 tries to hold on to the illusion that he is real since he’s due to go home in only a few days at this point, Sam2 discovers (with GERTY’s help) the hidden video logs of the previous Sam’s, and most importantly learns what awaits his predecessor should he choose to “go home.” This revelation is, by far, the creepiest of the scenes, even as it is shown with the neutral, passionless mode of a video log.
I’ve had little exposure to Rockwell’s previous acting credits, aside from his stint as Zaphod Beeblebrox in the US version of THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (2005), though moviegoers can see him in the new IRON MAN 2 (2010), and other films which I simply have not gotten around to seeing yet. I’ll tell you this: I am now a major fan of the guy. Aside from clips and dream sequences of Tess, and Kevin Spacey’s smooth, calm voice as GERTY, the only major character in the film is Sam Bell, both of them – one fresh and clear-headed, the other is beaten to crap, confused and as sick as a swine flu patient. Both are played with very subtle nuances by Rockwell. They fight and bicker, yet at the same time cling to each other out of an unspoken bond – they are, after all, copies of the same person – and the implied love of brothers exists between them. And this, my friends, is what makes their scenes “together” so powerful. They are brothers looking out for each other’s well-being.
As a viewer, with few exceptions, I often forgot that the two men were actually not in the same room, scene to scene. The special effects to carry this off are pretty standard: filming the scene with Sam1 doing his lines, re-filming with Sam2 doing his own, then blending the film together. Using a body double for back shots. There are a couple of cute little tricks also used that aren’t as good but still effective if you’re not looking for them. Rockwell plays the stolid, but increasingly frightened Sam2, trying to save not only himself but Sam1 before the “rescue party” arrives, and the beaten, on-the-verge-of-giving-up Sam1, who is like a little brother constantly getting in the other’s way.
The interior sets are clean white plastic, padded like the Kitchen and Mother Room sets in the original ALIEN (1979), everything sterile and meticulously maintained. The exterior moon shots are done with miniatures, the moon dust rising with a static slow motion as if frames were edited out. The end result shouldn’t have been as effective as it was, but it worked for me. Better than the standard slow-mo-trope. I think Director Duncan Jones does a nice job maintaining the atmosphere and pace throughout the film, a pace which accelerates smoothly, until its rapid conclusion.
Clint Mansell’s minimalist soundtrack is appropriately ethereal for such an isolationist moon story, though the soundtrack is silent for large chunks of the film. At least, I think it was.
Not to worry, I didn’t give that much away with all of this, and I’ll leave the ending for you to watch. It could have gone any number of ways, depending on how haughty the director was (i.e. Jones could have taken the art-house approach like the above-mentioned SOLARIS). I will say I liked the ending, one which is not completely spelled out for you so you need to think about it and pay attention. Fortunately, a film like MOON is one which demands your attention, so give it gladly.
I give this film 4 moon rocks out of 5, both for the loving care the filmmakers gave the story and more so Rockwell’s dual performance. There are so few, true science fiction movies (versus space opera or science fantasy) out there, and this was refreshing to watch. Part thriller, part cerebral art house flick, it’s mostly a well done, well-acted movie you won’t soon forget after the credits finish rolling.
This film is one of those Shrek-ish peeled-onion stories that reveals itself more and more as it goes along. More to the point, it reveals itself more and more as the character(s) of Sam Bell learns what is going on. (OK, promise, no more until after the Alert Heading.)
MOON is directed and co-written by a relative newcomer to the biz, Duncan Jones. It’s rated R, but only for language (Sam Bell curses a lot – not a complaint, though; it fits with the story), and is set in a near future where conglomerate corporation Luna Industries, Ltd has exclusive mining rights to a new element called Helium 3 which has solved most of Earth’s energy problems. It’s mined on the far side of the moon, said operation monitored from a base manned by only one man: Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell).
As the movie opens, Sam’s three-year contract is coming to a long-awaited close, only two weeks hence. He’s been living in relative isolation the entire time, as real-time communication with Earth is prevented by a damaged satellite. Only pre-recorded video messages are possible with his estranged wife Tess (Dominique McElligott) and their young daughter, whom Sam has never held. His only companion on the moon is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) computer named GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey).
Sam and Tess’s marriage was on the rocks when he left Earth, but over the past three years they’ve reconciled, long distance. Tess feels the separation “has been good for us.” She’s ready for him to return, and he’s way ready to go home.
There was interesting chemistry in the early stage of the film between Sam and the AI, GERTY (no idea what the name means). Sam would whine and complain to it, as he would to a wife or brother. The AI’s moods are reflected using a small TV screen on one side of a box that moves about the station using an overhead track. The screen displays a smiley face, a frown or quizzical face, depending on GERTY’s mood. Just a few expressions, but they are quite effective, both creepy and endearing at the same time like, well, a smiley face (I’ve always found smiley faces both creepy and endearing…). GERTY has a robotic arm with which he can do simple manual tasks, (like give Sam hair cuts with a Flobee). I mention this because now and then, the robot occasionally touches him on the shoulder in an affectionate gesture. This obvious affection is important for the rest of the film, and draws a line between GERTY and the more infamous HAL of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968). GERTY is simple and devoted to the caretaker, whereas HAL is a nut job and sociopath.
Aside from general upkeep of the base, Sam’s primary job is to head out to the four automated mining machines (each named after a Gospel from the New Testament) to harvest a “bullet” canister of Helium 3. It is on such a visit to Matthew when things go awry. Before we get to that, a couple of points.
Ever since my young days glued to (reruns.. ahem) of UFO (1970) and SPACE: 1999 (1975), I’ve been a sucker for good moon stories. Surprisingly, these are few and far between. I mean, the moon’s really not all that interesting, aside from the fact that it’s a massive stone ball weighing 16 x 10^22 pounds, hurtling around us every 28 days without stop, and it sometimes makes people crazy here on Earth. The trick, you see, is to write a good story that works in such a setting. Whoola, big scary rock in the sky is suddenly the perfect setting for a tale such as this. Back to the review….
Sam is coming apart mentally, then later physically, from being cooped up for so long (at least, that’s the initial assumption). He clings to the thought of going home in less than two weeks. No matter how odd things begin to get, this is his anchor. When he sees a beautiful young girl sitting in his chair, he slips a little more. The next hallucination sets off a chain of events we’ll get to in a second.
The early part of the movie feels a bit like SOLARIS (1972, Russia/Soviet Union – I never saw the U.S. remake). There is a strong, almost claustrophobic sense of isolation, made more so by Sam’s mental unraveling so tightly portrayed by Rockwell. Sam Bell holds on to his past and a near-manic hope for the future… even as the reality of his situation begins to reveal itself.
When Sam heads out to investigate a problem with Matthew, he has yet another hallucination and ends up crashing into the back of the massive Dirt Digging Thingy. Badly hurt, Sam blacks out…
…and wakes in the infirmary, GERTY whirring overhead like a worried nurse. Our hero looks no worse for wear, though he’s dazed and very weak. The AI explains he was in an accident, though Sam cannot remember it. While he regains his strength, he’s confined to the infirmary. Things begin to feel – wrong to him. GERTY is being evasive, and won’t answer how Sam was rescued.
It’s at this point I’ll give a quick summation so the No-Spoilers-Please folks can move along. I admit, early on in this film, the sense of isolation and loneliness did not appeal to me. I felt as trapped as Sam did on the moon. This, of course, should be kudos to the filmmakers. But, as the truth of the situation on the base becomes apparent, you simply do can’t walk away until you see how it plays out. As the base gets a little more crowded, the sense of isolation fades. Having company can do that.
On the surface, MOON is a stripped down, no-frills science fiction film with a small cast talented enough to carry off such a solo project very, very well. More to the point of the movie, I think, it touches on family – and what might define family in the most strangest sense. What instills loyalty, and love? In other words, I highly recommend this film, both for what I’ve already said and what’s to come next.
SPOILER ALERT
(
(
(
Ok, this sentence is simply to prevent the NSPs from accidentally reading something they didn’t want to. OK, onward:
The head honchos at Earth are sending a rescue crew to repair the harvester. But something is amiss. Sam knows this, and keeps asking questions. From this point forward, each new scene is demarcated by a female voice announcing how many days and hours until the “rescue team” arrives. This announcement is simply background at first, but becomes more ominous as the story develops and we begin to understand Sam’s plight more and more.
Sam keeps wondering – and asking GERTY – how he got back from a crash he doesn’t remember. The last straw comes with a waking nightmare showing himself, hurt, dying and reaching out for help. Sam takes a rover out to the Matthew harvester and finds the old rover still rammed into the broken digger’s rear end, but also finds himself in the cab, still in a dust-covered space suit. Still alive. He brings him back, and with GERTY’s help, the first Sam begins to recuperate.
From here on in we’ll call them Sam1 and Sam2 for clarity, and because I love Dr. Seuss. Sam1 is in bad shape physically. Sam2 is first to realize that they are clones of another, original Sam Bell. Sam1 is groggy, disoriented, and coughing up some illness. He seems to be dying, at first from the accident, then eventually we learn the truth, though it is only implied. That’s something else I liked about this film, not everything is spelled out, though there are enough letters in the celluloid alphabet soup to make the right words if you’re looking for them
The AI computer is in a quandary, since never have two Sams occupied the same space. GERTY is programmed to help – and protect – Sam Bell, and the computer begins to realize that the Full Truth cannot be kept secret much longer. Sam2 has already figured it out anyway, and continues to search for answers and the other clones. There have to be others, to replace each version every three years. While Sam1 tries to hold on to the illusion that he is real since he’s due to go home in only a few days at this point, Sam2 discovers (with GERTY’s help) the hidden video logs of the previous Sam’s, and most importantly learns what awaits his predecessor should he choose to “go home.” This revelation is, by far, the creepiest of the scenes, even as it is shown with the neutral, passionless mode of a video log.
I’ve had little exposure to Rockwell’s previous acting credits, aside from his stint as Zaphod Beeblebrox in the US version of THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (2005), though moviegoers can see him in the new IRON MAN 2 (2010), and other films which I simply have not gotten around to seeing yet. I’ll tell you this: I am now a major fan of the guy. Aside from clips and dream sequences of Tess, and Kevin Spacey’s smooth, calm voice as GERTY, the only major character in the film is Sam Bell, both of them – one fresh and clear-headed, the other is beaten to crap, confused and as sick as a swine flu patient. Both are played with very subtle nuances by Rockwell. They fight and bicker, yet at the same time cling to each other out of an unspoken bond – they are, after all, copies of the same person – and the implied love of brothers exists between them. And this, my friends, is what makes their scenes “together” so powerful. They are brothers looking out for each other’s well-being.
As a viewer, with few exceptions, I often forgot that the two men were actually not in the same room, scene to scene. The special effects to carry this off are pretty standard: filming the scene with Sam1 doing his lines, re-filming with Sam2 doing his own, then blending the film together. Using a body double for back shots. There are a couple of cute little tricks also used that aren’t as good but still effective if you’re not looking for them. Rockwell plays the stolid, but increasingly frightened Sam2, trying to save not only himself but Sam1 before the “rescue party” arrives, and the beaten, on-the-verge-of-giving-up Sam1, who is like a little brother constantly getting in the other’s way.
The interior sets are clean white plastic, padded like the Kitchen and Mother Room sets in the original ALIEN (1979), everything sterile and meticulously maintained. The exterior moon shots are done with miniatures, the moon dust rising with a static slow motion as if frames were edited out. The end result shouldn’t have been as effective as it was, but it worked for me. Better than the standard slow-mo-trope. I think Director Duncan Jones does a nice job maintaining the atmosphere and pace throughout the film, a pace which accelerates smoothly, until its rapid conclusion.
Clint Mansell’s minimalist soundtrack is appropriately ethereal for such an isolationist moon story, though the soundtrack is silent for large chunks of the film. At least, I think it was.
Not to worry, I didn’t give that much away with all of this, and I’ll leave the ending for you to watch. It could have gone any number of ways, depending on how haughty the director was (i.e. Jones could have taken the art-house approach like the above-mentioned SOLARIS). I will say I liked the ending, one which is not completely spelled out for you so you need to think about it and pay attention. Fortunately, a film like MOON is one which demands your attention, so give it gladly.
I give this film 4 moon rocks out of 5, both for the loving care the filmmakers gave the story and more so Rockwell’s dual performance. There are so few, true science fiction movies (versus space opera or science fantasy) out there, and this was refreshing to watch. Part thriller, part cerebral art house flick, it’s mostly a well done, well-acted movie you won’t soon forget after the credits finish rolling.