catholiclefty

It is most welcome to see an original science fiction film, especially one that has clearly had a lot of thought put into it and has been produced with a lot of care and affection. It is also pleasing to see a film that slowly reveals a complex story without exposing gaping plot-holes - this film holds together very well indeed. In addition, it is also a pleasure to watch a showcase of acting in what is almost a one-hander film, with demonstrably different (and yet, in many ways, the same) characters played by the same actor. All of which are to be found in spades in Moon. There's a lot to like here and a lot to commend. While owing an acknowledged debt to movies such as 2001 : A Space Odyssey, this is highly original. Telegraphed twists turn out in the opposite direction - for example and almost uniquely, the clearly-partly--homage-to-HAL computer isn't evil and is actually helpful.

There are two minor drawbacks however. The first is that, while the story structure has no clear holes, it feels like a story that demands a final-act revelation, and that doesn't get delivered. All the twists have been revealed by the end of the second act, and it is a little disappointing that the film ends without any extra shocks. The second is that this is quite a cold, clinical film - we sympathise with the problems faced by the characters, and are intrigued by the story, but there is a sense of emotional detachment that doesn't involve the viewer half as much as I'd have liked. They are small but, in the end, quite significant problems.

Sam Rockwell is extremely good as our lead character(s) - which is fortunate, as he's the only person in sight for the vast majority of the film. He delineates his characters very well but in a way that makes sense when things get explained. When the script calls for him to physically deteriorate, unfortunately he's a little too good at that too, and perhaps the film becomes a little too graphic at this point for my sensibilities. I'm continually surprised whenever I pick up an old film and find Sam Rockwell has been in it and I haven't previously noticed (eg. Galaxy Quest, for goodness sakes!) so hopefully he'll start getting the attention he clearly deserves. The only character not played by Rockwell is the computer played (vocally) by Kevin Spacey, and he does a good job of ambiguity when required, and then friendliness and compassion later on. The 'gimmick' of the smiley faces representing his moods is good for a few chuckles and adds significantly to the ambiguity early on - the only criticism there is that the cute faces take away attention somewhat from the poignancy of when he explains the truth of what is going on.

I wish I'd been a little more emotionally grabbed by the film, because technically this is excellent - for one, there's a brilliant table-tennis scene that confounds your expectations completely on the use of split-screens, which deserves to increase my rating by a half-point in itself. Clever and filled with close attention to detail, this is a very well-done film and I'm quite unhappy I didn't engage with it and like it a lot more than I did. Even so, this is clearly deserving of a 7.5 out of 10.

The trailers made The Proposal look appalling, even more so given how many times the trailer was shown. Fortunately it doesn't turn out to be a bad film at all, and while it doesn't do a great deal for the rom-com genre and suffers from various problems, it remains watchable for most of its length and has a handful of pretty-good performances, including the leads. The mix of silly over-the-top action pieces and quiet contemplative moments is more or less correct, and while some bits fail - an extended tribal dance sequence is quite risible - quite a lot succeeds, particularly a scene with a dog, an eagle, and a mobile phone, which is surprisingly amusing. All the usual tedious lessons are learnt of course, family is good, love can blossom in unlikely places, oh we all know the drill. Here the only real complication is an immigration status problem that sets the ball in motion, and I find it rather hard to believe the immigration authorities in the US are quite this lenient on people who have wasted their time - but in the end, this isn't a forensic examination of immigration procedures but a quite formulaic rom-com, and suffices quite well at that. And it does set up a for once decently amusing set of scenes while the credits roll.

Sandra Bullock is infinitely more watchable than in the trailer. Apart from the opening ten minutes or so, where she's deeply irritating and the cause of an office setup which is in itself deeply unrealistic, she mellows quickly and nicely and shows off excellent comic skills while managing to bring some depth to her character. Surprisingly, given the bits shown in the trailer, it's quite a nice performance. Ryan Reynolds, who I'm continuing to warm to as an actor, is fine here too, and he and Bullock play off each other very well. I'm not at all convinced they have the chemistry to work as a couple, but they do the comedy well enough, and the couple bit is going to be after the cameras stop rolling, so they get away with it. Malin Akerman is ok in a very under-written part that continues to look like it is about to be fleshed out but never quite manages it. Oscar Nunez has an amusing, well-played role as someone who keeps cropping up in different guises. Mary Steenburgen must have the 'nice, caring mother' thing perfected by now, and she's fine here but nothing too exciting. Craig T. Nelson doesn't get a very well-written part as the cranky father, a side story which mainly distracts from the main plot but fortunately doesn't get a lot of screentime. Betty White is good fun as the grandmother.

It's not going to change the world, and it's a bit hit-and-miss, but it's a lot more enjoyable than you'd expect from the trailer, and I can't deny that I enjoyed the majority of it. So 6.5 out of 10.