Moon (2009)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Duncan Jones

Writers:

Duncan Jones (original story)
Nathan Parker (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 July 2009 (UK)

Genre:

Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The last place you'd ever expect to find yourself

Plot:

Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.

Plot Keywords:

Astronaut | Computer | Moon | Space Travel | Male Rear Nudity

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Matt Berry	...	Overmeyers
Robin Chalk	...	Sam
Dominique McElligott	...	Tess Bell
Sam Rockwell	...	Sam Bell
Kaya Scodelario	...	Eve Bell
Kevin Spacey	...	GERTY (voice)
Malcolm Stewart	...	The Technician
Benedict Wong	...	Thompson

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

97 min | USA:97 min (Sundance Film Festival)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R | Ireland:15A | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (British Columbia)

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Liberty Films UK

Trivia:

Outdoor moon scenes were shot using practical effects (small models). Shooting took place over 3 days.

Movie Connections:

Features "Mary Tyler Moore" (1970)

Small in scope, Grandiose in concept

While book racks are brimming with thought provoking, high concept science fiction, the movie genre tends to be populated by invading aliens, intergalactic wars, and adventure, which makes Director and co-writer Duncan Jones' Moon that much more of an oddity.

Not since Steven Soderbergh's much overlooked 2002 rendition of Stanislaw Lem's Solaris has a movie firmly rooted in the sci-fi realm delivered reflections on the human condition, which Moon does deftly.

It tells the story of Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), the only inhabitant of an automated lunar mining base extracting Helium-3 from lunar rocks to be shipped back to Earth to fuel the energy starved planet.

Sam's isolated three year posting is about to come to an end and he longs to return to Earth to see his wife. His only company throughout this sojourn has been that of Gerty, the base's HAL-like robot voiced by Kevin Spacey. Unfortunately, the final weeks and days are proving to be the most difficult, and Sam finds himself going a bit squirrelly, leaving both he and the audience to wonder if what's unfolding is actually happening, or merely a drama taking place in his addled mind.

That's about as much plot detail as I'm going to deliver, for to delve any deeper into the story would give too much away. Be prepared, however, for a thought provoking narrative that touches on issues such as scientific ethics, corporate greed, human identity, and compassion.

There are no aliens, lasers/phasers, wormholes, warp engines or jump drives here, just a lonely space age concierge, an unflappable monotone robot, and a whole lot of fodder for your brain to chow down on.

This is what science fiction was meant to be.