I, literally, cannot say enough awesome things about Sam Rockwell. The man is just truly mesmerizing in every film he is in, and never has his talent been on display quite as much as it is emphasized in the Duncan Jones’Â Moon. First thing I need to mention that I know you already know but am going to bring up anyway is, Duncan Jones is the son of Major Tom, David Bowie. So right there, you know you are in good science fiction hands (his Dad is an alien, afterall). And on top of that, you pretty much have a one man show, starring Rockwell. How can this fail? Truth is, it doesn’t.
Rockwell plays astronaut Sam Bell, who is on a three year Helium-mining mission on the moon, alone. Then he gets hit with the curve ball that he may just be a clone. Of a clone. Of a clone. And at one amazing point in the film, we get to see Rockwell interacting with Rockwell, clone to clone. One is well mannered and soft spoken, and the other is brash and cocksure, and the exchange between these two is so realistic that at no point does it feel like you are watching an actor act with himself. This is so much more than that.
And of course, the whole thing takes place on the moon and in a space station, so it is science fiction without a doubt. But this is not laser battles with aliens. Moon is a character study, and a brilliant one at that, with science fiction as its backdrop.
Jones followed up Moon with another great science fiction film called Source Code, which only further established him as one to watch in the genre. Oddly enough, next up for director Duncan Jones is the World of Warcraft movie. Will be curious to see what he does with that. Kinda scared, actually.
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