Moon

I rarely write about film, but I love the indie flick I watched last night (thank you, Netflix!) called Moon. It’s gotten rave reviews from some, and terrible ones from others. From a storytelling perspective, I thought it was a delight.

This film had classic sci-fi style that I haven’t seen since 2010. The film definitely has a flaw or two, but you gotta love Kevin Spacey as the voice of a robot, and the slow, slightly creepy style the film evokes.

The star, Sam Rockwell, gives it an “unknown” flavor, but he’s had a number of wildly different roles over the years (notably, Zaphod Beeblebrox in the recent big-screen Hitchhiker’s adaptation). He’s slated as Justin Hammer in the upcoming sequel to Iron Man, and he was in Gentlemen Broncos, which is on my to-be-watched list.
Sam (name of the character as well as the actor) is the sole operator of a cold fusion mining operation on the moon, serving out a three-year contract. It gets lonely and cabin-feverish up there, with only a emoticon-faced robot to talk to, and Sam starts to go a little wonky.
Moon serves up some twists and turns, as well as a little humor, so avoid spoilers like IMDb if you want the full effect. My husband and I had to force ourselves to stop speculating aloud every few minutes concerning the outcome, even though it’s loaded with foreshadowed story elements. Rated R, but only for the repeated use of the F-word.
Mr. B strolled in and out of the room while we were watching and was apparently bored by the lack of action. But not all science fiction is about action when there’s a good story.

2 thoughts on “Moon”

  1. This was definitely one of my fave flicks of 2009. SF dominates our film/TV culture these days, but I feel like this is one of the few recent films that breaks free of well-worn tracks and explores the genre's potential.

  2. Loved it. A reviewer in Fantasy and Science Fiction called it "the anti-Star Trek," referring to the bing-bang-boom appeal of the new Trek versus Moon's quiet simmer and superior story.

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