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"MOON" (2009) (Sam Rockwell, voice of Kevin Spacey) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Minor Heavy Heavy Mild Minor Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Minor None Mild None Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy None Heavy Moderate Moderate QUICK TAKE: Sci-fi: With just two weeks left to go on his three-year solitary mission on a lunar base overseeing a mining operation, a man has a startling discovery that shakes him to the core and makes him question himself, his work, and his place in the universe. PLOT: It's the near future and Sam Bell (SAM ROCKWELL) is an astronaut who has just two weeks left on his solitary, three-year mission overseeing a mining operation on the moon. He works for Lunar Industries, making sure automated harvesters successfully retrieve fusion energy laden rocks that are then returned to Earth for fuel. He's lonely for his estranged wife, Tess (DOMINIQUE McELLIGOTT), and their young daughter, Eve (ROSIE SHAW), with his only companion being the space station's resident computer, Gerty (voice of KEVIN SPACEY). But just when things start looking up for his return to them and Earth, Sam begins experiencing odd physical and mental conditions, including hallucinations, one of which causes him to wreck his lunar rover. When he regains consciousness back in the station, he's told by Gerty that he can't go back outside, but he does, only to return to the wrecked rover where he finds a person inside there who startlingly looks quite a bit like him. As that astronaut -- who turns out to be the original Sam -- recovers, he and his doppelganger try to figure out exactly what's going on with them and their work that's led to this unusual predicament. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Those interested in more intellectual (rather than action-packed) sci-fi might be intrigued, and fans of Sam Rockwell might want to see it for him. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: SAM ROCKWELL plays an astronaut situated alone on a lunar base for three years overseeing a mostly automated mining/harvesting operation. With just 2 weeks to go, he's looking forward to seeing his estranged wife and their young daughter in person rather than via video playback. But he must then contend not only with a bad accident and suddenly deteriorating health, but also the arrival of a doppelganger (also played by Rockwell) who claims he's also him on the same mission, albeit at the beginning. He uses strong profanity and has dreams of erotic involvement with his wife. GERTY is the lunar station's resident computer that's assigned to assist and protect Sam no matter what, also serving as his companion in the otherwise solitary three-year mission. DOMINIQUE McELLIGOTT plays Sam's estranged wife back home, seen only in video playback, who admits missing him, but believes that their time apart has been good for him and them. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated sci-fi flick. Profanity consists of at least 29 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered, as is some brief, sexually related dialogue. A dream sequence shows a married couple fooling around in bed, while a man's bare butt is seen as he showers alone. There's a brief fight (with bloody results), an injury from a lunar vehicle crash, and what appears to be the murder of a sick person. Those scenes and the overall scenario once it's revealed might be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers. Several scenes feature the loss of blood via various means (including vomiting), while tense family material also occurs. There's one drug related and several alcohol related comments, while some bad attitudes are also present. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there's some handheld camerawork from time to time in the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Original Sam tell New Sam (about the latter's conspiracy talk), "I don't know what you're smoking." Original Sam joke to New Sam about the latter going to Hawaii or Mexico and tells him to bring back a pina colada. About asking Tess in the past about getting some ice cream, he states she said they should get a drink. BLOOD/GORE Sam has some blood on his face following a crash of his lunar rover. We see a dried cut on the side of Sam's head. After the two fight, we see blood on New Sam's hand from Original Sam's face, that's fairly bloody, with some of his own blood on his hand as well. We see some bloody rags and such along a sink. One Sam tells the other (about his attire), "You look like a radioactive tampon...like a banana with a yeast infection." Original Sam has dried cuts/bruises on his face. Original Sam experiences pain and ends up vomiting inside his helmet while wearing it (we see blood on the face plate, and then some on his face after removing the helmet). Original Sam vomits into a toilet, does so again, and then retrieves a tooth that's fallen from his mouth. Original Sam wake up, blows his nose, and then sees lot of blood. About being in a transport pod for three days, Original Sam asks what if he has to "take a sh*t," with New Sam telling him he'll have to hold it in. Original Sam spits some blood into a toilet. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE New Sam initially doesn't get along with Original Sam and is standoffish toward him. SPOILER ALERT: Those responsible for the scenario (replacing one clone of a person with another and so on, and fooling them into believing they're the real person) obviously have bad attitudes, but they're never personified (save for a several second view on a video call). In one scene, a sick clone appears to be murdered in what they're led to believe is supposedly a travel pod of some sort. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and/or "Blood/Gore" may be unsettling and/or suspenseful to some viewers. Sam thinks he sees an image of himself (with a beard) on a monitor. Sam returns to his original wrecked rover, goes inside, and finds himself inside there, wounded from the wreck. Sam's progressively deteriorating health (including vomiting blood) may be unsettling for some viewers. New Sam races to leave the station before anyone from a "rescue team" finds him there. GUNS/WEAPONS A rescue team member carries what looks like a rifle-based weapon of some sort. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "What the f*ck?" "You're a f*cking clone," "I'm Sam f*cking Bell," "Don't get your f*cking panties in a twist," "Cheap f*cks," "Get the f*ck out of the way," "M*therf*cker," "Little f*ck," "F*cking little girl," "F*ck me" (nonsexual), "I f*cked up," "F*ck off," "Oh sh*t," "You don't have sh*t," "Sh*t like that," "You really think they give a sh*t about us?" "Holy sh*t," "Take a sh*t," "You need to get laid," "What about dumbo?" "What the hell's going on?" "You bastard," "You lost your marbles," "We're in the same boat, asshole," "Hey Geppetto, wake up," "Take a pill," "Don't be an asshole," "You look like a radioactive tampon...like a banana with a yeast infection," "Something dorky like that" and "He's a whacko." Sam has a tattoo on his arm. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) Some suspenseful and ominous music plays from time to time in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 29 "f" words (1 used with "mother," 1 partially said), 10 "s" words, 1 slang term for sex ("laid"), 2 asses (used with "hole"), 2 hells, 5 uses of "G-damn," 4 of "Jesus Christ," 2 of "God" and 1 use each of "For God's sakes" and "Jesus." SEX/NUDITY We see Sam's full rear nudity as he showers. Sam jokingly tells Gerty (the robot), "You think too much...you need to get laid." Sam has a dream of making love with his wife. We see her on top of him in bed, with passionate kissing and possible slight movement. Her top is then removed, showing her cleavage-revealing bra, while he's shirtless. He then rolls her over and is between her legs, but then his alarm clock goes off back in reality. We briefly see Sam in his briefs (wearing a robe). Sam has a dream of being asleep (shirtless) in bed with his wife, but the camera then goes down to the foot of the bed (under the covers) where we see another Sam, looking distressed and reaching out. About his young daughter, Sam jokes that she might be the milkman's (offspring), but adds that she's beautiful. One Sam mocks the other by commenting on him thinking Tess is waiting for him on the sofa in lingerie. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Nearing the end of his 3-year term working alone on the moon, Sam misses his wife and child (who he only sees in prerecorded, one-way video feeds). In one such feed, his wife says she misses him, but then adds that this separation has been good for him, and for them. Original Sam tells Gerty that his wife Tess left him and moved back with her parents. SPOILER ALERT: Original Sam learns that his wife and daughter are just memory implants from the original version of Sam. Later, he calls home, is told that Tess passed away, and talks to Eve, his now 15-year-old daughter. But he then hears himself (meaning the true original version) and ends the call. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The notion of mining fusion energy that's trapped in rocks on the far side of the moon, and then sending that back to Earth. What living and working alone could and can do to one's mental state. What living and working on the moon for three years could do to one's physical state. Clones. VIOLENCE Hot water burns Sam's hand after he's distracted by what he thinks is a view of a woman in the moon station. Sam is distracted (by what looks like an image of a woman on the surface, amidst the debris) while driving a lunar rover out by a large mining vehicle, and ends up crashing into that. His rover is stranded and we see a little blood on his face. The two Sams struggle over a modeling X-acto-type knife, pushing and grabbing each other, etc. New Sam then overturns and trashes Original Sam's large model he's been working on, followed by Original Sam jumping on the back of New Sam. The fighting continues, with an elbow thrown and some choking, with that ending when New Sam realizes Original Sam is bleeding a lot. New Sam tires of Original Sam repeatedly playing some music and dancing about, so he grabs the playback device and throws it across the room. We see video footage of a clone who appears sick, is put into a chamber, and then apparently is killed once the top hatch is closed. New Sam accidentally cuts his finger while whittling (no blood). An empty fusion rock harvester runs into and knocks over a communication-blocking tower. Reviewed July 10, 2009 / Posted July 17, 2009

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