Moonlight Mile (2002)
Perhaps the most interesting comedy/drama
about death to be made since "Harold and Maude," "Moonlight
Mile" also seemed like the "Ordinary People" of the
post-millennium. These are just my own impressions,
however. It's not as if this film were a copy or even
a meditation on those earlier films.
It's no secret or "spoiler" to tell
you that the film is about a young woman's death (although
there may be some spoilers here). This event occurs
even before the film begins. If you don't know this
from the inordinate amount of pre-release hype film
suffers these days, you'll see that it is so when
the film opens at a funeral procession. We also immediately
meet the deceased girl's parents and her fiancee as
they suffer through the "party" that goes on after
a funeral. (You know, not a wake. What do we white
American people call these things? I can't freaking
remember).
I don't want to spoil much more
of the plot because it has such wonderful surprises.
This film is about loss, grief, love, family, surviving,
and moving on. But it is a story told in such a wonderful
way with such a unique and unsuspected plot that it
will totally amaze you. From looking at the trailer,
I thought this film would be a complete weepie, a
sorrowful and sad meditation on loss, but it is so
much more than that. There's just a surprising storyline
going on here.
The true reason to see the film
is undoubtedly the cast. Jake Gyllenhaal is simply
remarkable. After wonderful turns in "Donnie Darko"
and "Lovely and Amazing," we've come to expect greatness
from him and he delivers here. In many ways his work
here is superior to "Darko" even though the two films
are impossible to judge against one and other. Gyllenhaal,
like Keiran Culkin, is having an amazing year and
his name will surely be remembered when awards time
rolls around early in 2003. Gyllenhaal's courtroom
scene at the climax of this film is one of the most
human and poignant moments I've ever seen on film.
It is sorrow and joy at the same time. And the young
actor makes it so; he makes it important and real.
He does not do so with actor's tricks or dramatic
skill but rather with humanity and honesty rarely
seen on screen.
Meanwhile, Susan Sarandon practically
reinvents herself here. Now, she's an awesome actress
and we all know. And while this film certainly does
entail her best performance ever, it crackles with
an electrical spark we haven't seen from her in quite
some time. Plus, she is playing a character that isn't
very much like any other I can recall from her. Her
distraught mother is neither victim nor basket case.
Instead, she is a strong-willed, independently minded
and creative woman trying desperately to make sense
of a situation that she inherently knows makes no
sense. When you know death is absurd and you know
it is impossible to cope with then how do you, as
a self-conscious person, deal with loss? How do you
allow yourself to have feelings you know that you
will have yet also know are ridiculous to have because
they cannot change the facts? Sarandon's performance
encapsulates these and many other enigmatic paradoxes.
Dustin Hoffman may not break any
new ground in his performance as the father, but it's
the first time in a long time we've been fortunate
enough to see him in a role where he is allowed to
stretch out and relax as an actor. His work her is
evidence of becoming the grown up evolution of the
numerous characters he has played in the past. His
character is both sweet and annoying, much like the
men he played as a younger actor.
Meanwhile, the chemistry between
the three, and their assorted duos, are fascinating.
Sarandon with Hoffman is just as compelling with Sarandon
with Gyllenhaal, and so on.
And finally, mention must be made
of Gyllenhaal with relative newcomer Ellen Pompeo.
Their "meet-cute" sets wheels in motion that reveal
as much about her tomboyish bartender as it does Gyllenhaal's
Joe. Pompeo is a wonderful juxtaposition to Gyllenhaal
and there is undeniable chemistry between them. They
are virtually combustible when on the screen together.
Their coupling ends up saying as much about hopefulness
and love as it does about despair and loss. It's quite
wonderful.
Writer/director Brad Silberling
based this script loosely on his own personal life.
Silberling was dating Rebecca Schaeffer (of TV's "My
Sister Sam") who was killed by a disturbed stalker.
But Silberling's script is just the opposite of the
acrid and righteously sanctimonious stuff we might
expect from someone who lost a loved one in such a
public and distressing way. Rather, his script is
full of joy and hopefulness and passion and love.
His script isn't so much about the loss of life or
the loss of love, but rather the continuation of life
and the continuation of love.
It's easy to believe that this theme
is exactly what someone like Schaeffer, someone like
the loved ones we ourselves have lost to death, would
want us to believe in and understand. "Moonlight Mile"
is a beautiful film.
Notes:
Also with Dabney Coleman, Holly
Hunter, Gordon Clapp and Lenny Clarke.
Sarandon and Silberling are credited
as producers. Score by Mark Isham.
It is several minutes into the film
before you realize it is set in the early 70's. One
of the first clues is that the jukebox has all classic
rock on it, which Gyllenhaal's Joe refers to as being,
"from two or three years ago." The song "Moonlight
Mile" is played as an important element of the plot.
Although it is never mentioned in the dialogue, this
is why the film has that title.
Notes:
Viewed in Austin in October 2002.
