Moon breathes fresh air into sci-fi genre

"Moon"
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey
Grade: B+

Moon is the invention of first time filmmaker Duncan Jones, son of legend David Bowie. Jones along with uber-underrated actor Sam Rockwell create an involving and brainy sci-fi thriller that had me held in its cold and lonely trance for 95 minutes. Jones supposedly shot the film for a meager $7 million, throwing actor Rockwell into the films isolated set design set in space.

The beginning narration informs us of Lunar Industries, a company that has a man named Sam Bell (Rockwell) on a moon mining base to harvest helium-3, an all important fuel that provides the Earth with energy. The film picks up as Bell is doing his last 2 weeks of a 3 year contract. He has no contact with Earth, except for recording videos sent to his family, he's beyond lonely, and is starting to see things. His only companion is an artificial intelligence computer named Gerty, voiced by Kevin Spacey. Gerty shows his emotions through sad or happy faces on his own screen,

One day Sam goes out to check on something outside of his base, he finds someone mysterious and brings him back to the base. Sam doesn't know where the man came from or who he is. I won't give anything else away. The film raises many interesting questions, the script may have small flaws, but for the most part it holds steady. Rockwell gives an amazing emotional performance of an isolated man seeking companionship and meaning.

The set design is noteworthy. The base has a cold smugness to it; Jones' atmosphere is what keeps the film interesting, along with the haunting score from composer Clint Mansell. The whole film rests on Rockwell's shoulders, and he proves he is a valuable leading man. Jones may not provide anything original or new to the genre, but the script unfolds in refreshing and interesting ways.

Moon is no masterpiece, but is easily better than any Summer blockbuster playing right now. Duncan Jones is certainly someone to keep any eye on. A fresh new director who adds depth to a recent lackluster genre. Jones clearly has nods and wink-winks to past sci-fi films, but Moon is more than enough to hold him credible for now.