Psychological science fiction about an astronaut harvesting precious Helium-3 on the moon alone….or so he thinks. Thought provoking drama owes a definite debt to 2001: A Space Odyssey. While this drama suffers in the comparison to that science fiction classic, it still presents some interesting ideas. The isolated mood is tense and it begins well. Unfortunately halfway through, the action starts to drag as it becomes more of a cerebral exercise than an entertaining film. Nice production design is visually engaging and nicely complements the action. Kevin Spacey’s instantly recognizable voice as a robotic assistant named GERTY, is a distraction that feels like a poor imitation of HAL 9000.
Menu
4 Responses
This is one of my favorite films of last year! I’m a big Sam Rockwell fan and always look forward to seeing whatever he does. While not all of his movies are huge blockbusters or even critical successes, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him give a bad performance. Having said that, I would like to nominate this as one of his best(if not THE best), so far. One truly feels his isolation and utter desperation to figure out what’s happening, why and how to find resolve. What is happening, is very cruel and even more so when you can plainly see the why. As for the resolve, I won’t tell, just watch and you decide. I am in complete agreement, when you say it is “Thought provoking”. Also, I do agree that there are some similarities to 2001:A Space Odyssey, but I would probably have to say that Solaris may be even more of an influence. Even though it is not difficult for the audience to figure out what’s happening, you stay glued, maybe in the hopes of being wrong. I’m sad that there has been little mention of this film for any awards, it was well acted, well made and had an interesting story too.
Yes Solaris must’ve been an influence and I almost forgot about 1972’s Silent Running starring Bruce Dern. Both films deal with one man’s journey of self-discovery in the isolation of space.
Sam Rockwell is an interesting actor because while I agree with you he is very talented, he is also rather unassuming. Moon was a rare opportunity for him to play the lead. He’s never really had a breakout role in my opinion, but there are several which rank among his best: Galaxy Quest and Matchstick Men are two of my personal favorites.
P.S. This movie has gotten quite a few awards actually, many citing Sam Rockwell‘s brilliant performance: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/awards
Really?! I’m glad of that, then:) I think that Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was supposed to be his big break as a leading man, but for whatever reason, it wasn’t. One of my personal favorites is Lawn Dogs, also starring a young Mischa Barton.
Liked it a lot more than you did, but I agree with you that it owes a lot to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
http://themoviefreakblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/review-moon/