Rating: 
Summary: Life goes on........
Review: Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon play the grieving parents of a young girl who is killed in a senseless slaying just before she gets married. Her fiance is living with her parents and he goes along with the plan that he will become business partners with the father. Everyone wants something from the young man and he does his level best to give it to them, despite the fact that no one really consults him as to his wishes. The three mourners continue to stumble through life until the young man, played by Jake Gyllenhaal breaks through the denial and stunted emotions by becoming truthful and seeking his own way. There are outstanding performances by Hoffman, Sarandon, and Gyllenhaal and although the pace of the movie is painfully slow, it packs a powerful message.
Rating: 
Summary: Great acting in a piecemeal story
Review: Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon and newcomer Jake Gyllenhaal did a wonderful job acting. But, even that couldn't carry this movie. This movie struck me as a quilt of excellent scenes pieced together. Unfortunately, the pieces did not all go together smoothly. There were holes and gaps and leaps of logic. Like reading a book with chapter's missing. The story is about a family who's daughter Diana was killed in domestic dispute, in a restaurant, where she was a customer. Ironically, the person meant to die; recovers. Diana was the only child of Susan Sarandon and Dustin Hoffman's characters. Her fiance Jake Gyllenhaal; Joe has moved in with her parents and had planned on joining her father in business. What isn't immediately known, is that Joe and Diana had decided not be be married before she was murdered, so Joe feels like he is acting under false pretenses, as her parents were never told. The movie starts out with her burial. The family then goes through the motions of the funeral and other issues surrounding her death. Holly Hunter is the District attorney handling the prosecution of her murderer. This movie was jarring in the sense that all the pieces were not fitting together. The dynamics between Susan Sarandon and Dustin Hoffman were great and Jake Gyllenhaal does a great job of the uncomfortable groom not to be, but there is no flow to this movie. You see people trying to cope in disparate ways, but you don't really get a sense of the tragedy that has touched them till the very end of the movie and then it is light at best. Through out the movie, something was missing. There was a wooden quality to the dialogue at times as if they were filling time from one great scene to the next. Dustin Hoffman at times, seemed almost to go Rainmanish, and Susan Sarandon seemed to be reprising her role in the Banger sisters. It was odd, but they almost seemed to be filling time here and there. There were entire parts that didn't make sense, as when Joe meets and falls for the young postmistress/bar maid. The chemistry and scenes with her were just so campy and contrived. They really go out of their way to paint her as a tragic and misunderstood character. The movie struck me as a good idea gone bad. I think Hollywood added the romance to a good book about loss and then tried to justify it by the parallel tragedies. It just didn't work. I can't recommend this movie for more than one or two good scenes: all of Susan Sarandon's, Jake Gyllenhaal at the final courthouse scene and Dustin Hoffman in his office at the end.
Rating: 
Summary: My new favorite movie
Review: Good Will Hunting was my favorite movie, now this is. You get two movies, in a sense, with this-- the actual movie, then the "story behind the story" on the director commentary (about Rebecca Schaeffer). Fantastic, couldn't ask for better actors-- this script was *written* for them. Wouldn't be surprised if *many* awards come out of this. I'm getting the DVD *and* the soundtrack!
Rating: 
Summary: Uncomfortable and Implausible
Review: Great actors aside, this movie seemed implausible and made me feel so uncomfortable, not from grief but from implausibility. The couple that lost their daughter uses the to-be son-in-law, over and over through various things that they ask him to do, we see him be used. No regard for his grief, which we can only guess he must feel.
It was painful to watch this. Then to add pain to the "using" and total disregard for this man, we see him being attracted to a girl he just met. This is 4 days after the death. Absolute nonsense. It wouldnt happen. No man who was in love and about to be married and had his fiance die, would do it. Implausible, ridiculous. There is another scene that is implausible and so uncomfortable. One of the dead girls close freinds flirts with the fiance. Too much. At this point, I left. Waste of time, no point, uncomfortable "non standing up for himself", people "using him" and implausible. Dont waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: Almost there
Review: Here's a film with a great cast and an important theme that at some moments is neither fish nor fowl. It opens as a comedy, becomes a drama, goes back to comedy, then to drama. This shifting focus does a disservice to the central theme of grief--with its attendant sub-themes of guilt and anger and denial. Gyllenhaal turns in a solid, believable performance as the fiance of the murdered woman. Dustin Hoffman drifts in and out of focus as the woman's father. But Susan Sarandon is just extraordinary as the fiercely intelligent, angry yet witty, grief-stricken mother. When she's onscreen the movie is electrically alive. It's hard to buy Hoffman as this woman's husband; not that his performance is bad, it's just not up there with Sarandon's. Some moments seem contrived, others are stunning in their potency--particularly Gyllenhaal's turn on the stand in the murder trial. This is definitely worth seeing, even if it is somewhat flawed.
Rating:
Summary: The Sleeper of 2002!!!!
Review: I enjoyed this movie for several reasons, mainly the superb acting of Susan Sarandon and Dustin Hoffman and the well written script. The main theme of the story has to do with the painful experience of losing a loved one and the emotional stages of grief towards recovery. The movie presents a set of parents whose daughter is murdered at a local cafe shop and their attempts to keep her memory alive by taking their daughter's fiancee into their home. Susan Sarandon's role of a perhaps obsessive but definetely controlling/abusive wife was played very well. On the other hand, Dustin Hoffman played his role of a subdued and tolerant husband with great intensity. It was real to see both parents attempting to deal with their loss in their very unique way. Their daughter's fiancee was played by a young actor names Jake Gyllenhaal who appeared untouched or unaffected by the death of his fiancee. This behavior makes sense later in the movie, so please take few trips to the fridge or set your dvd player on "pause" so you will not miss how the film unfolds. These good films have been getting lost as they are only released to major theatres markets such as New York and Los Angeles for few days. As they don't well in the box office, the movie producers release them on dvd in a record time!!! Also, more and more people are purchasing home theaters and obviously they have no reason to go to the local movie house. Their loss is our gain!!!! The picture quality is a 5.
The 5.1 works great as all speakers do their respective job. The .1 (LFE) or Low Frequency Effect is powerful so your sub woofer remains "on" throughout the film. I give a 5 as well!!! You will enjoy this film!!! I highly recommend it!!!!
Rating:
Summary: overrated and corny
Review: I hardly ever give a movie one star, but this movie was just so overrated. I really wanted to like it. Three powerhouse actors, and what seemed like a good story. But the director uses so many corny devices that it is almost painful to watch. For example that seen where Jake is being dragged around the post office by his dog. There were numerous others. I am sorry but this movie is one of the years disappointments. The acting was good, very good. But even the talent and effort of these magnificent actors couldnt save this cheesy, cornball drama.
Rating:
Summary: There is no standard grief response
Review: I just finished watching this movie and loved it - was very moved. First off, to get the obvious out of the way, the soundtrack is fabulous and the dog is great. That said, i really appreciated this view of the grieving process - sometimes quiet, sometimes stilted and wooden, sometimes angry, sometimes funny. I can't even repeat here some of the conversations a group of us had after a friend's suicide - too ribald and raunchy. It helped us ease the pain. The scene of the deceased daughter's "friends" going through her clothes to pick stuff out was also very painfully realistic. I've been there. I thought Jake Gyllenhall was fantastic. I've seen him in other things but he really stood out to me. And Susan Sarandon, I think, always gives her best. Dustin Hoffman walked that line of holding it all together and giving you the feeling that any moment he was going to burst. The only disappointing moment for me was the relationship that came about between Joe and Bertie. Not that that's not realistic - many people I know who lost their partners quickly married or got together with someone else again shortly thereafter. I can't really say what bugged me about it. I think maybe when they "got together" (read between those words) I expected more pent up grief to be released or something. And maybe that's my OWN personal stereotyping of how grief is experienced at a moment like that. On the whole, I really liked this movie a lot. I laughed. I cried. I thought of friends who are no longer with me and their families and loved ones. I thought of Brad Silberberg (sp?) and Rebecca Shaeffer. I think she would have been proud.
Rating:
Summary: Is there life after grief?
Review: I saw this film and the more recent "Monster" on the same afternoon so I will be comparing the two films here, though they may have little in common: The first thing which struck me about "Moonlight Mile" was the soundtrack which is unusually good--so good it may make you forget about the plot. In any case, it will orient you towards the mid-70's. The second thing that was noteworthy is that while the film included a tragic event, the accidental death of Diana, the final outcome was positive and so the film was not a tragedy, unlike some other Hollywood films I have seen recently. The major theme of the film is an upper middle class family dealing with grief. Certain details and memories such as Diana's Italian stick-it notes on the furniture make Diana almost a living presence in this film. Because he meets Bertie, the postal clerk and barmaid who has not seen her Vietnam soldier boyfriend in three years, and whose favorite song is the title track, Joe raises himself out of his tragic situation and finds that he can go forward with his life with some hope of a positive outcome. He also raises the film out of tragedy.
Not so with "Monster", which becomes increasingly gruesome as the story progresses. Still tragedy can be entertaining, at least the Greeks thought so, and so did Shakespeare. Aileen or Lee is presented as an incredibly gauche, ill-mannered, foulmouthed, violent-tempered, overweight, and unattractive prostitute from a bad background who makes a lot of poor choices and who increasingly leads a life of violence, thankfully sparing her lesbian friend all responsibility for her actions in taped interview. Aileen has promised her friend a better life, but what she becomes is an unwitting accomplice in a downward spiral of violence. The film is filled with many characters from the fringes of society. Along with "21 Grams" and "House of Sand and Fog" I consider "Monster" one of the 3 to 6 most depressing or harrowing films I have seen in the past year, and that list should also include "The Hours" and "In The Bedroom."Because they include extensive war footage, I will also include the recent "The Hunted", "The Pianist", and "Harrison's Flowers" on the list.
Rating:
Summary: Is there life after grief?
Review: I saw this film and the more recent film "Monster" on the same afternoon so I will be comparing the two films here, though they may have little in common: The first thing which struck me about "Moonlight Mile" was the soundtrack which is unusually good. The second thing about this film that was noteworthy is that while the film included a tragic event, the accidental death of Diana, the final outcome was positive and so the film was not a tragedy, unlike some other Hollywood films I have seen recently, including "Monster", "21 Grams" and "House Of Sand and Fog" all of which have unbelievably tragic endings. I could throw in a few recent Hollywood war films on this list, too. But because of the presence of Bertie, the postal clerk and barmaid,whose favorite song is the title track, Joe finds that he can go forward with his life with some hope of a positive outcome.
Not so with "Monster", which becomes increasingly gruesome as the story progresses. Still tragedy can be entertaining, at least the Greeks thought so, and so did Shakespeare. Aileen or Lee is presented as an incredibly gauche, ill-mannered, foulmouthed, violent-tempered, overweight, and unattractive prostitute from a bad background who makes a lot of poor choices and who increasingly leads a life of violence, thankfully sparing her lesbian friend all responsibility for her actions, in the end, in a taped interview. The film is filled with many characters from the fringes of society who populate the film. Along with "21 Grams" and "House of Sand and Fog" I consider "Monster" one of the 3 to 6 most depressing or harrowing films I have seen in the past year, and it does not inspire me to become a social worker,either. To round out this list I will also include the recent "The Hunted", "The Pianist", and "Harrison's Flowers" all of which contain harrowing war footage.
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