Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Moon (2009)

Director: Duncan Jones

Time Out rating

Average user rating

24 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Click here to read our interview with the director of 'Moon'

We know that Duncan Jones is David Bowie’s son, but, more importantly, is his feature debut any good? The answer is a resounding – if qualified – yes, judging by this 1970s-sci-fi throwback, which, for a modern space movie about the knock-on effects on man of future technology, is unusually thoughtful, good-looking and well-acted. Sam Rockwell (below) is Sam Bell, a nervous lone astronaut on the moon where, at some point in the near future, a corporation is mining Helium-3, now the source of most global energy. It’s Bell’s job to manage this operation in the company of a sympathetic robot called Gerty (one of several nods to ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’). When we first meet him, Bell’s three-year stint is almost complete, but he’s tired and unhinged – symptoms, no doubt, of solitude and having to communicate with his wife and young child by taped messages as the satellite is broken…

If that last fact sounds a bit too convenient, that’s the point: all is not what it seems. Jones has created a credible theatre in which to stage a meditative play on isolation and identity within the bounds of wild fiction, the edges of which are curiously blurred. Less is more in Jones’s eye: he knows that big ideas can be lost amid noisy gestures so keeps his drama within the confines of a few rooms, with only the odd, more poetic moment unfolding outside on the moon’s surface. As the film goes on, early ideas about loneliness segue into a more troubling (and confusing) study of corporate exploitation and even – here’s a biggie – what it means to be human, when a second Sam Bell, a clone also played by Rockwell, appears and shakes up all perceptions of what’s going on. The film is not entirely logical, but it raises pleasing questions and looks beautiful.

Click here to read our interview with the director of 'Moon'

Author: Dave Calhoun

Time Out London Film 2030, July 16-22, 2009

Email Tweet Share

User reviews of this film

Mike said...

Posted on Aug 26 2010 17:58 I saw this film last autumn. Time Out's review is way too generous. It beats me why BFI are showing this mediocre film several times this week, and only once showing Fritz Lang's Metropolis - on a Thursday evening. Consider "Le Refuge" (at the Curzon Mayfair), "The Girl Who Played with Fire (Cineworld Haymarket, etc) or something else instead. But if you go and see it, and walk out disappointed, don't say you weren't warned.

Report as inappropriate
GSTheo said...

Posted on Jun 15 2010 12:23 After all the high praise I was very surprised by the uncertain style of this movie and GERTY is no HAL 2000 is he? Apart from a rather bald screenplay the art direction just isn't up to the job. All I could see was a film set. I was so uninvolved I didn't even get to the end!

Report as inappropriate
HP said...

Posted on Apr 04 2010 11:27 Fantastic. A cross between 2001: A space Odyssey, Ground Hog Day and the novel 'Non Stop' by Brian Alderidge. Absolutely spot on.

Report as inappropriate
Rogue said...

Posted on Jan 12 2010 17:17 If you've not read the above review then be warned **SPOLIER** Personally, for a little while I was wondering whether the other Sam was a physical manifestation of the darker side of his character - maybe he was going crazy and talking to himself? Do we ever see GERTY directly address the second Sam before the 'revelation'? So the reviewer announcing exactly what he IS would have ruined the film for me. I loved Moon, it was nicely paced, beautifully shot and Sam Rockwell is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. Definitely worth seeing, although it may not be for action fans.

Report as inappropriate
christian said...

Posted on Jan 10 2010 12:14 harrygrep you are spot on.....alonf with let the right one in MOON is film of the year ........time out the above reviewer is souless if he is going to nit pick wha is essentially a thing of beauty ....a film that says so much with minimal seeming effort.....how many other films have acieved that this year............

Report as inappropriate
harrygreb said...

Posted on Jan 06 2010 01:51 wow i am so glad i watched the movie before reading this f...ing review. the twist is early but not quite 20 minutes mate...

Report as inappropriate
longjon said...

Posted on Sep 16 2009 13:20 You sod! Wish I hadn't read the review now - only wanted to find out if and where it was playing. Who hired you?

Report as inappropriate
Justin said...

Posted on Sep 10 2009 19:19 I enjoyed the film. The twist happened early on in the film and to be honest I saw it coming a while off. After that it was pretty much striaght foward story till the end. But I enjoyed the retro 70's sci-fi style and if your expectations are not too high then it is enjoyable if a little of a no brainer.

Report as inappropriate
jcro said...

Posted on Sep 10 2009 02:30 The way I took it was that it was a story about the loss of a relationship. He's abusive, she leaves, the world is lost. Note Bell's actual "self" angrily asking "who's asking about Mom"? Too much plot construction and many logical gaps, but a very fine film nonetheless. Ended fifteen minutes late. Three of four stars (five star systems are wrong).

Report as inappropriate
P Gill said...

Posted on Aug 11 2009 14:18 Not just me who's annoyed though is it? And many other reviewers got around it.

Report as inappropriate
dave calhoun said...

Posted on Aug 11 2009 14:16 P Gill - If a spoiler includes something that occurs in the first 20 mins of a film, what are we supposed to critique? The credits? Thanks for the abusive comment though.
DC

Report as inappropriate
P Gill said...

Posted on Aug 11 2009 13:48 Nice one putting a spoiler in the review. Real hotshot pro aren't you. Ruined it for a few people. Stick to the day job you cretin.

Report as inappropriate
RW said...

Posted on Aug 10 2009 15:27 Brilliant. Gerty is a great rebuff to terminator.

Report as inappropriate
Liv said...

Posted on Aug 09 2009 01:45 This film is okay. Not great, not terrible but okay. I didn't particularly care about either of the characters. I didn't care if one of them died. Gerty the robot is disapointingly humanised to an extent towards the end. There are a few plot holes in this story but as a first film it's pretty good (even if all of the themes have been seen presented in a similar way many times before). Unless you're really keen I wouldn't rush out.

Report as inappropriate
Rick said...

Posted on Jul 28 2009 04:49 Note to readers: it you haven't read the review and don't want any spoilers, don't read on:
The "clone" information, coupled with the mention of "corporate exploitation," will really taint the movie-going experience for anyone capable of second grade-level extrapolation. Sure, there's more to the movie than that, but people enjoy experiencing a narrative unravel, and you've already unfurled a large portion of it.

Report as inappropriate