When high-powered attorney Louise (Meg Ryan) learns that her husband, Ian (Timothy Hutton), plans to leave her after 13 years of marriage to run off with his twentysomething girlfriend, Sara (Kristen Bell), she impulsively decides to take drastic action. She ties up Ian in their country house, and refuses to let him go until they talk things through. Naturally, he resists, and things take an even worse turn for the couple when a young hooligan (Justin Long) hears Ian's cries for help, and
decides to rob the couple blind instead of helping the hapless husband. Serious Moonlight was scripted by the late Adrienne Shelly. Shelly's husband, Andy Ostrow, who produced the film and has a small role in it, decided to go forward with the project, for which Shelly had been seeking a producer, after the actor-director's tragic death. Serious Moonlight marks the feature directorial debut of actor Cheryl Hines, who co-starred in Shelly's last directorial effort, Waitress. Several key crew members for Serious Moonlight -- including composer Andrew Hollander, casting directors Sunday Boling and Meg Morman, costume designer Ariyela Wald-Cohain, and line producer Brigitte Mueller previously -- worked with Shelly on Waitress. Serious Moonlight had its world premiere at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, where it was shown in the Encounters section. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
More strident than funny, the film illustrates that old French proverb, "Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside desperate to get out."
It's a tribute to writer Adrienne Shelley and first-time director Cheryl Hines that, despite the film's flaws, it ultimately pulls off its unlikely tone.
I appreciate that talented people wanted to honor Shelly by making this film. They likely would have better honored her by mounting her script as a play.
Small indie that has all the ingredients of a typical Hollywood Meg Ryan romantic comedy from the 1990s, including Meg Ryan, but lacks the spark of the best of her genre.
Meg Ryan gets together with her French Kiss boyfriend, Timothy Hutton. She tapes him to a toilet this time, instead of letting him go to Paris. I loved this movie, not as much as French Kiss, but it's funny, sad, clever and an honest look at marriage.
Disappointing. At least an hour of this, (and it only runs for just over 80 minutes), is just Meg Ryan and Timothy Hutton in a room. She has found out that he is about to leave her for his much younger mistress, played by Kristen Bell, and is not happy about it. As is usual with Meg Ryan these days, her acting fails
as it is impossible to stop looking at her plastic face in horror. She has no expressions anymore, so it is hard to empathise or feel moved by anything she says or does. I found myself getting quite bored with this extended scene with the two of them and even reading the paper at one point.Kristin Bell's reappearance, (she appears briefly in the beginning of the movie), towards the end livens things back up again, and the small twist at the end almost made the whole film worth watching. Almost. It's just a pity it is so dull getting there.
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