Moon
Directed by: Duncan Jones
Written by: Nathan Parker (screenplay), Duncan Jones (story)
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey (voice), Dominique McElligott

If the Sundance Film Festival can be seen as a reliable indicator of the upcoming trends in film over the next few years, it would seem that big budget science-fiction flicks are giving way to something much more personal and lightweight. Both filmmakers and audiences are eager to explore smaller scale stories with an emphasis on intelligent themes rather than explosions and special effects. Emerging from this headspace is Moon, the feature film debut of U.K. director Duncan Jones, an outer space tale that relies primarily on a single main character throughout the majority of its running time.

Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, an employee of Lunar Industries who is stationed on the moon for a three year period in order to mine Helium 3. His only real companion during this time is a fairly rudimentary robot named Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey). Although he has been careful to carry out his assignment by the book, in the weeks before his return to Earth, he starts to experience some unexpected physical and mental complications. After an accident out on the job leaves him seriously injured, he awakens in sick bay, dazed and disturbed to find he is no longer alone.

There is a pretty important twist in Moon that happens within the first half-hour or so, and continues to drive the remainder of the story. To avoid spoilers, I will not reveal this twist, although it is difficult to talk about some of the movie’s themes without mentioning it. Suffice it to say, the end result feels like something we’ve seen previously in movies like Solaris: a character study of a man in isolation who may or may not be losing his grip on reality. The futuristic elements are merely a backdrop to facilitate the telling of the story.

Despite the shoestring budget, there is no shortage of intriguing eye candy being offered up in this movie. Duncan Jones uses plenty of practical effects to recreate the ominous darkness of the moon’s surface, along with a very sleek and believable living environment for the moon base itself. I must admit that I was a little conflicted over some of the art design choices, however. The look of the computers and some of the sets seemed a little too clean and cartoony, more like something out of a music video. I suppose this might be expected, considering that Jones is the son of one Mr. David Bowie, but it did take me out of the movie somewhat.

There were also two conflicting tones at odds with each other throughout the film. On the one hand, it wanted to be both philosophical and creepy like 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it also had some quirky humour sprinkled throughout, reminiscent of A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It didn’t help that Kevin Spacey provided the voice of the robot, which placed him squarely between Alan Rickman’s Marvin The Paranoid Android and Douglas Rain’s HAL. I didn’t find him all that funny, and once again, it took away from the believability factor. Fortunately, Sam Rockwell’s performance is both impressive and essential; he deftly maneuvers between the tonal shifts, providing ample amounts of both humour and drama as required.

I wasn’t as impressed with Moon as some other people at Sundance seemed to be. I’m as much of a sci-fi geek as the next guy, but although this movie had some cool ideas being thrown around, I don’t know that Duncan Jones assembled them into a cohesive final product. Repeat viewings are probably required before rendering a final verdict, but as it stands, I admire this movie more for what it was trying to do than what it actually accomplished. Nonetheless I am ecstatic to see yet another movie signalling the comeback of the thinking man’s sci-fi, and look forward to future projects from Duncan Jones. — Sean

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Recommended If You Like: Solaris, The Hitchhiker\'s Guide to the Galaxy, The Island, 2001: A Space Odyssey