SXSW Review: ‘Moon’

I have come to the realization over the past couple of years that one of my absolute favorite genres within a genre is the independent, science fiction film.   When you are making a sci-fi film on a less-than-mega budget, you have to rely on story and subtlety to grasp your audience rather than giant monsters and massive explosions. Independent science fiction films generally have something to say beyond just the good vs. evil rant.

And so it goes with ‘Moon’, the first feature film by up-and-coming director Duncan Jones and starring Sam Rockwell.   Rockwell plays Sam Bell, an astronaut in the near future where Earth’s most important resources are mined and shipped from the moon.   Sam is near the end of his three-year contract to watch over things on the moon with only a robot named Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey) to keep him company.   As with any science fiction film where the main characters involved are nearing the end of their time in space, not everything is going to go according to plan.

Seriously, the less you know about ‘Moon’ the better.   I knew kind of a general idea of what was going to happen, but the film’s originality and blindsiding twists still kept me guessing where the story was headed.   It might be a little premature to consider Jones a visionary, but, if ‘Moon’ is any indication as to where this man’s directing career is headed, the moniker fits.   Jones has an incredible way of working around his limitations, only shooting certain special effects from such an angle as to not draw too much attention to it.   He relies on his story, on his shot composition, and on his impeccable lead actor to play the film out.

Speaking of Rockwell, it is absolutely saying something to say that he gives his best performance to date in ‘Moon’.   The man is one of the best actors working today, but what he does with the performance he gives in ‘Moon’ can only be described as Oscar-worthy.   I can’t say much about the story, but let me just say that Rockwell is forced to alter his character, in all of the physical, mental, and psychological ways the story calls for, and the guy hits it way out of the ballpark.   It is seriously like watching two different actors playing this one character.   You can almost visualize the dotted line that splits the two characters apart.

Everything about ‘Moon’ works masterfully.   Spacey’s voice is perfect for Gerty, a space-bound computer who, thankfully, is all about helping the human involved instead of acting like the typical, corporate-run, evil CPU who turns evil.   Gerty has a small screen where different, yellow smily faces appear depending on his mood at the time, and you could easily spend the entire film just watching those faces change.

The film’s score by Clint Mansell is perfect Mansell, very cool when it needs to be and just as haunting when the film calls for that, as well.   Mansell is quickly becoming the best films score composer working today, and his vividly cool music in ‘Moon’ lingers with you for days after.

‘Moon’ is a perfect example of why I love the independent sci-fi genre.   Jones has crafted a near-perfect ode to the early works of Ridley Scott and to Kubrick’s ‘2001’.   I know.   Blasphemy, right.   Just see it for yourself.   Thankfully, ‘Moon’ has been picked up for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics and will get a real release this coming June.   You should definitely check it out.   I saw ‘Moon’ on only my first, full day at South by Southwest, and I’m already half-convinced that nothing from here on out will top the intense magic and incredibly gifted work that came together to make this awe-inspiring sci-fi film.

Overall: 5 stars out of 5