Film Review : Moon

This is an excellent film that tells an ironically very human story of an astronaut reaching the end of his three year shift on the dark side of the moon.

The investigation of an accident on the moon reveals that the victim appears to be the same person as has conducted the investigation. We then have two versions of the main character having to deal with the implications of their dual existence whilst there is a countdown before an emergency team lands on the moon to deal with the repairs and to take one of the characters home at the end of their mammoth shift.

Sam Rockwell puts in an awesome performance with virtually every scene featuring him in his different personas. The last film that I can remember being so dependant on a single performance was Colin Farrell's turn in Phone Booth but don't let the list of other actors fool you - this is Sam Rockwell's film from start to finish. All of the other characters are seen from the end of a video link - which has malfunctioned meaning that real-time conversations are impossible.

This is director Duncan Jones first movie and, whilst on a limited budget, the visuals make the telling of the tale very believable. This is a sci-fi rooted in the characters and the telling of a story and is all the better for it.

There is, of course, the delicous irony that this film opens on the 40th anniversary of the moon landings when the directors father was enjoying his first major (sic) hit in the music charts. But the quality of this film will ensure that Duncan is easily able to step out from his father's immense shadow. It won't be too long before people are asking of David if he's Duncan's father rather than the other way round.