1. Moon (2009)
Sam Rockwell's performance in
Moon has to go down as one the all-time greatest solo performances in the history of cinematic endeavour. If that sounds somewhat hyperbolic, it's because I'm genuinely awed by the work that the actor - who is also one of my all-time favourites, as it happens - puts into Duncan Jones' seminal modern sci-fi classic. It's a mesmerising and wholly remarkable performance. Yes, I love this movie. Can you tell? A relatively simple sci-fi yarn told with visual and thematic references to works like
2001: A Space Odyssey and
Silent Running, it's Rockwell who makes this movie into the little masterpiece that it is. Simply put, it probably wouldn't have worked without him at its centre, leading proceedings and - wait for it - even acting against himself. There are a few actors in the movie aside from Rockwell, but none of them interact with him directly - they appear on video monitors or in voice only. If you haven't seen the movie, stop reading after this sentence and don't let me spoil it for you. If you have, you'll know that the plot concerns a lonely employee stationed on the Moon, who - bizarrely - rescues himself from an accident and must come to terms with their dual existence. Rockwell plays several characters who look and sound exactly like him, though he successfully inhabits every one of them with their own individual traits and mannerisms. What could have been laughable is actually affecting and ultimately sad. I'm convinced that
Moon - as a movie - hinges on the performance of its lead actor. Rockwell triumphs here.
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