Despite being shot on a shoe-string budget and helmed by a first-time director, Duncan Jones' Moon is coming to town. This quirky tale of madness and isolation on the moon, which picked up an impressive list of endorsements on the film festival circuit, opens tomorrow at select theaters in LA and New York. Sony has now released a more extended schedule of openings elsewhere across the country for later June and July.
The fact that the movie is directed by the son of David Bowie has been a source of intense curiosity in the press and a real boon for headline writers. ("Son of Major Tom, at Ground Control" is an instant classic). But several reviews suggest that there may be a bit more to that comparison. Wired, for example, finds something in it that harkens back to the sci-fi classics of the '70s and '80s:
With no giant explosions, no monstrous aliens and no shortage of nods to cerebral sci-fi classics, Moon delivers a stirring, character-driven story about a profoundly isolated blue-collar guy in a bad situation. [Sam] Rockwell's intensely introspective performance imbues this somber little movie with sci-fi beauty that's more than skin deep.
High praise, indeed, and all the more surprising coming from the high-priests of gadgetry over at Wired. And, for the record, Jones' father is proud.