If Moon evokes David Bowie -- home-sick astronaut severed from planetary connections -- it could be because director Duncan Jones is the rock icon's son.
A case of the apple not falling far from the tree even for the man who fell to Earth?
Possibly.
But even excluding genealogy, this movie would register as a space -- and Hollywood -- oddity.
Consider: a science-fiction film about ideas and concepts and the human equation, as opposed to gigantic ghetto robots?
No wonder it all seems so opaque and mystifying. And frankly it's difficult to imagine how audiences conditioned into having their senses pummeled will respond to this low-tech (budget: $5 million or roughly the catering tab on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) cerebral puzzler about identity, genetic engineering, corporate malfeasance, artificial intelligence and the dark side of the moon.
But for moviegoers with patience -- and an appreciation for engrossing storytelling -- Moon's rewards are considerable.
Sam Rockwell stars as Sam Bell, a private-sector astronaut stationed at a lunar-mining operation that has solved the world's energy crisis.
Closing in on the end of his three-year assignment -- and eager to return to his wife and child -- he's alone except for Gerty, a robot wryly voiced by Kevin Spacey, whose motives may be benign. Or not. (Spacey's performance is one of the film's many nods to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, legendary for its own troubled subservient computer.)
But when an accident occurs outside the station, Sam's hopes for a safe trip home -- and his understanding of his life -- are irrevocably disrupted.
For one thing, his sinking feelings of despair and paranoia are confirmed. Nothing -- not this place, his mission or even his own existence -- are quite what they appear.
Working from a screenplay he conceived with Nathan Parker, Jones' inspiration is clear: the chilly speculative fiction cinema of the 1970s, from Silent Running to Alien. But it is Kubrick's mind-tripping 1968 masterpiece that is most glaringly echoed -- even if it lacks the former's epic meta-physicality and clinical detachment.
Instead, Moon benefits greatly from deeply felt work from Rockwell, whose superb performance grows increasingly complicated and penetrating thanks to a mid-section twist I won't spoil here.
Granted, Jones' feature-film debut isn't without its flaws -- as profound as the results are, its potential never feels fully realized -- but as an ambitious entertainment, it seizes the imagination and rouses the soul.
Yes, ground control, we have liftoff.
(This film is rated 14-A)
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