Moon

Sam Rockwell delivers an exciting performance in "Moon," almost a one-man tour de force. He co-stars with himself and with the voice of Kevin Spacey in a tense, entertaining drama that will offer moments of comparison with "2001" and others of the genre. It opens today.

Rockwell, as Sam Bell, has been living alone on the moon for almost three years, keeping company with a computer named Gerty, whose voice is provided by Spacey. Gerty is not HAL, but close in that she takes care of Sam, reminds him of necessary tasks and so on. But Gerty is the only available source for conversation and games, except for occasional video calls to his wife back home. Sam is involved with a new energy project, operating equipment as it mines a moon-based mineral that is solving the earth’s fuel problems. His contract is about to be completed, and he ostensibly looks forward to going home.

Things then begin to go awry. Sam has an accident with his vehicle. He is sharp-tongued with Gerty (curt with Gert seemed a stretch of puns). He seems to be losing his grip. And suddenly, there’s another person in his living quarters. This where Rockwell becomes master of the role: He’s the same, but different. He’s identical, but not quite. He’s a clone. Or maybe he isn’t.

It’s also where the story idea of director Duncan Jones (he’s David Bowie’s son) begins to expand along science-fiction lines. Is our Sam, the one we have grown to know, the original Sam? Or has this cloning been going on for years?

Jones is making his first feature film, though he has directed other things, including commercials, as a highly successful creative talent in the English advertising industry. "Moon" was shot at the legendary Shepperton Studios sound stages in England, and the effects are delightful. Sam’s living quarters are not quite the neatest, but things look awfully good for a man living alone all this time. Rockwell is outstanding, and Spacey’s flat tones are simply perfect as Gerty. Not as special effects-heavy as a lot of sci-fi films, it’s a well-done entertainment.

At the Plaza Frontenac

-Joe