MOON
Moon takes the career of Sam Rockwell to astronomical heights as he completely carried this interesting little film not once but twice and ironically in both instances as a character named Sam. From an idea by Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) who also directs this low key sci-fi thriller we’re stationed on the dark side of the moon in the distant future when the earth’s primary energy source is Helium 3 and as luck would have it the lunar surface is lousy with it. Sam is the sole inhabitant at an automated mining station coming to the end of his three year contract with a large earthly conglomerate. Communication with home has been interrupted for some time but Sam has GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey) the unctuous robot computer to take care of all his needs until his stint is up. When a field accident leaves Sam nearly dead he’s rescued by a stranger from nowhere also named Sam who is his mirror image. The two eventually discover that their situation is nothing to be over the moon about. Rockwell is fantastic facing off against himself yet with subtle personality differences and Spacey lives up to his last name as the voice of GERTY revisiting the same assuring tone as HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey. What’s different is that here the computer is the one with the conscience and man is the monster.