Secure Immaturity

*Warning: There really is no way to discuss aspects of this film without spoiling it so be warned: loads of spoilers in this review.*

I’m sniffing an Oscar snub! Yes, Moon is many things both good and bad but if there is one incredible aspect of the film that is being basically ignored it is the amazing performance by Sam Rockwell, an actor who is not a household name but carries with him many brilliant performances (from truly obscure, like Zaphod Beeblebrox in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, to the kooky, like Guy in Galaxy Quest, to the leading man commanding, like Chuck Berris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind). Moon would seemingly be his magnum opus because he enters the Tom Hanks/Will Smith realm of screen power by carrying a film all by himself for the majority of the running time, and then some.

While Moon’s actor enters a small, elite club of individual performances, the film itself is also from a fraternity of films that, as Mulder would say, ‘cannot be programmed, categorized or easily referenced’. Unlike the acting group, this category of film is not always good. The chairman of this fraternity is the Jennifer Lopez film Angel Eyes, which is probably the most incoherent, plot/theme challenged movie of all time. Moon has similar issues (it is unclear which genre of film you are watching: thriller, horror, sci-fi, drama, etc.) but it aids the film as opposed to making it crash.

Anyways, Moon is about Sam Bell (played by Rockwell) who is an engineer/all around scientist on the actual moon above Earth. He’s currently seeing through a three year contract and will be going back home to Earth to see his wife and three old girl. His only company is a friendly computer system named GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey) and old television shows. The occasional pre-recorded video from Earth gives Bell reason to shave and look nice but other then that his existence is a ruthlessly solitary one.

As his final two weeks get closer, Sam is nervously starting to have difficulties with his mental capacity. He’s seeing little girls around the ship and out on the lunar surface and he’s beginning to speak to himself. Then the impossible seems to happen: after getting in a serious accident he is rescued. . .by himself. As Sam wakes up, questioning his sanity, it appears he’s now sharing space with another version of himself: someone beginning their own three year service contract. Sam then begins to slowly deteriorate physically (coughing blood, losing hair, etc.). Suspicious of his mental state at first, Sam (and the other Sam) begin to suspect maybe it’s not something in their imagination and they are, perhaps, pawns in corporate Earth’s schemes to harvest the Moon’s resources with as little man power as needed.

To start, Sam Rockwell doesn’t only have to exist as the main performer for the majority of the running time (GERTY is a box-like computer with emoticons to represent his facial expressions) but has to share screen time with himself and make both versions of himself seem unique and different so when he has a discussion with himself, it doesn’t sound confusing. Rockwell succeeds incredibly. . .each incarnation of himself is different then the first and through masterful film work, the two interact and even touch each other without an eyebrow being raised.

The film’s genre is, as already mentioned, nearly impossible to pin down. It starts out as pure hard sci-fi drama. . .but little girls popping up at weird times and scary music would certainly make it seem horror-esque. Add the immense level of paranoia the film makes you feel (as Sam feels it too) and you feel you have a mystery/thriller type of movie. Once the whole idea of clones and suspicious corporations comes into play you have your non-hard sci-fi genre and during some sequences when Sam is interacting with one of his clones, you’ve got moments of comedy. The film is a smorgasbord for sure. . .but a good one. The movie doesn’t spell anything out until it’s final third and, like Sam himself, you start pulling your hair out in confusion.

The film isn’t all great: it’s a bit slow and I mostly don’t have the patience to sit through films that are completely mysterious unless the ending blows me away. Moon gives it’s ‘ending’ away too early by coming up with the surprise about half way through (Sam has implanted memories, there are thousands of clones available to replace him, and after three years his clones die and are incinerated) leaving the film, without mystery, to continue without anything left up it’s sleeve. Not to say Sam 1 and Sam 2’s quest to get home (though Sam’s wife is dead and his daughter, thought three, is now 14 or 16) isn’t compelling but Moon had the potential to be one of those one of a kind Sixth Sense kind of endings that blows you away. Moon’s clone subplot is kind of goofy and could only really, really work if held off until the end. . .instead we have to accept the slightly humorous plot point for half the film’s running time and it ruins the film’s immense credibility from the first half.

I can’t emphasize how much Sam Rockwell owns this picture. There is a particular sequence where Sam 1 and Sam 2 contact Earth to see if their memories are indeed false. Sam 1, the Sam we follow through most of the picture, hears the news of his wife’s death with a crazed shock. . .Sam 2 finds out about his wife’s death with a reserved haunt-filled gazed. Rockwell, while managing to literally wrestle with himself through the majority of the film, also completely punches you in the brain with two different, uncomfortable senses of realization. I am usually a champion of the Oscars. . .I like them. . .but they missed it big time this year.

Moon’s other great power is utilizing the ‘we don’t trust robots’ premise and stretching it out as long as possible. Thanks to Kubrick’s Hal 9000, do robots ever get looked at without suspicion? GERTY is kind of adorable in a robotic/personal computer kind of way, but you never really trust him even when he’s doing something heroic and/or compassionate. Even if your faith in the film is shaken by the many revelations, GERTY will remain an enigma worth seeing through to the end.

As you can tell, I’m recommending the film more then anything. I found myself impatient at some points and skeptical during some of the revelations (it seemed a little too goofy Star Trek for me then compelling Star Trek at times) but, come the final credits, didn’t want it to end. If anything, the film opens itself up for a sequel and not a big dumb one either. There is plenty of things to be mined (no pun intended) from Moon and I wouldn’t mind seeing Sam in further adventures. Technically, his discovery of his true self is only the beginning of a long journey of, dare I say, human exploration.

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