Moon (2009)
Directed by Duncan Jones
Written by Nathan Parker
Starring Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Kaya Scoledario, Benedict Wong, Matt Berry
Release Date July 17th, 2009
Published July 17th, 2009
While the obvious influence of Stanley Kubrick's 2001 is a worthy subject in relation to the sci fi flick Moon the film has an unspoken subject that I find much more interesting. In the ways in which the plot machine of Moon plays out, without what one might expect, it acts as an anti-thriller. Moon sets up a very particular idea that invites a kind of M. Night Shyamalan style twist and then goes about avoiding it at all cost. In doing so the film attempts a cooler than thou attitude toward Shyamalan's populist twisty thrillers and Moon comes off pretentious for the effort.
Moon stars Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell, the lone worker on a base on the dark side of the moon. Sam is a handy man for a self contained machine that harvests Helium 3 from the moon surface. If something breaks down ol' Sammy runs out and fixes it right up. Sam is near the end of what is supposed to be a three year contract and looks forward to returning to earth and the wife and child he left behind.
Why Sam left a budding family back on earth for an empty shell on the moon for three years is one of the intriguing questions that Director Duncan Jones and writer Nathan Parker pose in setting up what one might quite fairly assume is a major twist to come. Whether that twist arrives or not is honestly debatable.
The storytelling style of Moon is muted to the point of whispering. Kevin Spacey gives voice to the Hal-esque computer Gerty, somehow not a cool acronym, and his soothing tone matches the overall tone of Moon, a movie that is quiet with a purpose. The quiet is meant as a near silent rebuke to the noise of almost all modern science fiction and while one can appreciate the gesture, Moon grows so quiet at points that one longs for Bruce Willis to fly by on an asteroid and liven things up.
The thriller aspect of Moon, which kicks in with the introduction of a second Sam Bell in the space station, is played as a knock on the twisty thrills of M. Night Shyamalan. The two Sam's begin a simultaneous search for answers and the audience is led to believe a major revelation or twist is in the offing. I don't mind having my expectations upended but what does happen should be better than what I predicted or hoped for.
The ungainly confused ending of Moon, some would call it open ended but they are only justifying enjoying it, fails to critique Shyamalan's admittedly stale twist endings and especially fails to top them. For all of Shyamalan's failures his jolty endings to The Sixth Sense and Signs remain classic shockers. If you want to take them on you'd better damn well have a better idea. Moon, sadly, does not.
