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Rockwell out of this world in 'Moon'

Performance worthy of an Oscar nod.

Published online on Friday, Jul. 10, 2009

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It took more than six months, but the first legitimate contender for a best-actor Oscar has emerged.

Sam Rockwell turns in a masterful performance as an astronaut whose long seclusion on a moon mining base pushes him back and forth between sanity and insanity in "Moon."

Rockwell plays Sam Bell, an astronaut nearing the end of a three-year mission to harvest helium on the moon. His only companion is a rather ominous sounding computer voiced by Kevin Spacey. It is the creepiest man-machine relationship since HAL 9000 caused so many problems in "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Bell's mental state comes into question when a younger version of himself suddenly joins him on the isolated station. Director Duncan Jones uses the two versions of Bell to personify the cracks that can appear in a personality when it is subjected to extreme stress.

The script by Jones and Nathan Parker offers clues that this could be the personification of a mental breakdown, the odd result of scientific advancement or just a hallucination. The way the script is crafted leaves the audience guessing.

It is Rockwell's performance that puts the accent mark at the end of each possible scenario. He effortlessly slips between bravado and fear, confidence and confusion, determination and defeat. This broad range of emotions would have overpowered a lesser actor.

Jones gives Rockwell the perfect stage on which to work. The sterile design of the base camp and the barren nature of the moon never distract. It is minimalist theater that plays to the actor's advantage.

There's a lot of time until this year's Oscar nods are handed out. Academy voters should make a note of this effort. "Moon" shines because of the tour de force work by Rockwell.