Moon








Director - Duncan Jones

Genre - Drama/Mystery/Sci-Fi


In theater, a one-man performance can be a very entertaining, intimate experience despite the lack of a supporting cast. It is our conviction however that in cinema, having only one single actor for its entire duration just doesn't work. Sam Rockwell performed valiantly here as did the director taking on such a perilous task but the whole movie just came up short. We have no doubt Duncan Jones (David Bowie's son!) the director will go on to helm better films in future based on the work he did here but Rockwell for us is still a welterweight. He can act but he doesn't have the commanding screen presence desperately needed in such a risky undertaking. Maybe they should take the script and adapt it for a stage play.

2.5 STARS!

All about Moon

Comments

Anonymous said…
To be honest, I completely disagree. You haven't taken into the account how good looking it is considering the low budget or the interesting storyline. I think Moon is a stroke of Indie-Film genius.

I disagree with the comments on Rockwell, because I haven't seen him in a role where he failed to impress. "Welterweight"? I think he's one of the most underated actors around.
Thanks for the comment Dan.

Really, we don't care if the film looks good. This isn't a photography competition. As for Rockwell, we believe the description of him as welterweight is as apt as can be. Are you saying he's heavyweight? For us, actors like Brando, Jeremy Irons, Day Lewis - those are heavyweights. We never said Rockwell is a bad actor, but the fact is, he hasn't yet nailed a part that nobody else could play. If and when Rockwell really steps up his game and nails a role so well that we'll have no choice but to eat our words, then he's a heavyweight.

Philip Seymour Hoffman was among the underated too before he did 'Capote'. It instantly established him as a heavyweight. Rockwell needs to find his 'Capote'.
Dave said…
I agree that Rockwell has not found that true gem that he needs to catapult his career, but Moon was sure close in my eyes. I loved the film from the standpoint of direction and of acting. Rockwell was great and even if he didn't act in a part that no one else could he did it in a way that was unique to his screen talent. This film and actor are both highly underrated. The problem most people will likely have with it is its slow pace.
Hi Dave. We still stand by our review but if it is any comfort to you, we feel 'Moon' is a much, much better film than 'Solaris' (Soderbergh's). Now that one really bored us to bits! And it probably had twice the budget of 'Moon'.