IronWatcher’s review published on Letterboxd:
Watched on Netflix
Without seeing it until today, "Moon" was famous for me for a long time, but more because of Sam Rockwell than anything else.
When the director's name, Duncan Jones, gained profile for me through his second work "Source Code", my interest was aroused. Although the film silted up at the box office, almost all reviewers were full of praise for this work. So am I, especially when I think about the minimal costs of 5 million USD.
Moon is an exceptionally quiet movie, that fully zeroes in its main protagonist and consciously ignores any other events, for example on earth. So you don't have to expect aliens, space battles or futuristic high-tech-trumpery in a broader sense, but you are rewarded with an idiosyncratic, philosophical, intimate and thought-provoking drama.
The central point of the story is Sam Bell, played by Sam Rockwell, who was really driven to top performances here, convinced all along and deserves applause. In the end there is only him and the robot GERTY spoken in the original by Kevin Spacey, so that "Moon" can confidently be called a one-man-show. The twist of the movie comes surprisingly early and so I spoil it, even though it contradicts my principles:
After less than half an hour there is a profound paradigm shift when Sam Bell realizes that he has been cloned or is possibly a clone himself. This is also where Rockwell's strength reveals itself, as he simply does outstanding work in playing with himself. In the aftermath of this revelation, the film deals specifically and consistently with the "why", and is thus clearly in the tradition of the books of Stanislav Lem, who also used his futuristic setting more to raise essential questions and inspire reflection.
Apart from that Moon certainly makes several borrowings and also references, sometimes more and sometimes less clearly from the great role models, but although Jones' work doesn't reinvent the story and certainly won't develop into a celebrated classic a la 2001 or Solaris, it still doesn't have to hide in the shadow of its big brothers. From the actors to the setting to the wonderful score, Moon is convincing and atmospheric, so that I'm now really happy to belong to the illustrious circle of insider tip connoisseurs.
IronWatcher liked this review
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_297e1855-e367-4d6e-acfc-058e2772875b" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-297e1855-e367-4d6e-acfc-058e2772875b'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-297e1855-e367-4d6e-acfc-058e2772875b'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-297e1855-e367-4d6e-acfc-058e2772875b'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_6b52d22b-ae11-477c-a34f-f297026ad3e8" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-6b52d22b-ae11-477c-a34f-f297026ad3e8'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-6b52d22b-ae11-477c-a34f-f297026ad3e8'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-6b52d22b-ae11-477c-a34f-f297026ad3e8'));
