Serious Moonlight (2009)

That was an excellent one.

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

In truth, any opportunity to see the film on the big screen is welcome.

This movie is listed as comedy, crime, and romance ... there isn't one minute of any believable comedy, crime, or romance. Honestly I do not see how this flick got beyond the editing room.It's like my title ... that one shoe you see along the side of a road ... how did it get there? How did this movie get made? It's half a movie! It just has people saying their lines, then it ends.Maybe the producers blew the budget on rehearsal and just went with what they had .... which is nothing but a bore. I kept expecting the entire robbery to have been a setup for a twist in the plot at the end .. no that doesn't happen.An awful half a movie!

Note to Justin Long: Dear Justin, I remember when you got started on "Ed" on television. I thought you had something, and still do. You've made some decent films (e.g., "He's Just Not That Into You"). And some stinkers...a few too many to mention...and that's true of this film. Let's be honest, as good an actor as you are, you're not the matinée movie idol type. So, to build your career, you have to be a bit selective as to parts you take on. In 2009, the year this movie was made, you made 10 movies...and a couple were pretty good. I've forgotten now which film it was that turned me off because from beginning to end it was just one long dialog with 4 letter words. And that's my point -- too many of your movies are forgotten already. And here's another one. In "Serious Moonlight" you have little screen time, and most of the time you're on screen you have a handkerchief masking your face. Your character never develops his character...at all. That's not too memorable. Why did you choose the role? I can't figure it out...and apparently few others could either since the film made less than $147,000 worldwide. Yes, Justin, when some pics are making way in excess of $147 million, your film made less than one-tenth of that. It lost money. And deservedly so. I like seeing you on screen, but I won't pay for a ticket to see a lot of the flops you're in. I guess it's just for a fast buck, huh? Now, in terms of the rest of this film. I really like Meg Ryan, and Timothy Hutton is okay. But I'm not sure a film where one of the stars is duct-taped into a chair or onto a toilet for nearly the entire 84 minutes is going to be very compelling. Especially when the other star is duct-taped for about a third of the film. Feels too much like a one-set stage play. And not a very interesting one, either. Yak, yak, yak, yak. Yawn. It had potential as a dark comedy...but that potential remained unfulfilled.Thumbs down.

Coming home unexpectedly one afternoon, a chattering businesswoman discovers not only is her husband leaving her, but also that he has fallen in love with another woman and was planning a rose-pedaled seduction in the couple's bedroom. She takes action by knocking him out temporarily and duct-taping him to a chair (and then to a toilet) in an attempt--one presumes--to hash out their problems rationally. Marital discord making for an unfunny dark comedy, with Meg Ryan and Timothy Hutton failing to create a convincing union (tattered or otherwise). Who on earth foots the bill for anemic productions like this? Picture starts out poorly and manages, somehow, to get progressively worse. Is there a message of some kind in Adrienne Shelly's strident script? If so, it is as well-hidden as Hutton's once-celebrated acting skills. The pits! NO STARS from ****

This film is about a woman coming back home to find her husband writing a note asking for divorce. She holds her husband captive to try to win him back."Serious Moonlight" has only two actors most of the time, and the whole film is set in a house. Yet, it manages to maintain viewers' attention by the spectrum of emotions the two go through as the day progresses. The plot is engaging, but I find the husband's change of heart a little too abrupt. The final few seconds of the film is simple and yet effectively suggests something sinister has happened, thereby opening up viewers' imagination as to why things happened this way. "Serious Moonlight" is an interesting portrayal of a troubled couple who searches their soul for answers.