Serious Moonlight

It's been a full two decades since Meg Ryan emerged from a series of background girlfriend roles to become America's Sweetheart in 1989's "When Harry Met Sally…", but in this strangely conceived 2009 comedy, she still has that undeniable twinkle in spite of all the age-defying cosmetic alterations to her face. The screenplay is the last work of the late actress Adrienne Shelly, who wrote, directed, and co-starred in 2007's agreeably idiosyncratic "Waitress", and what they have in common is her supple dexterity in balancing the off-kilter elements of her stories into something deeper. This time, she takes a darker, less whimsical path in exposing the insidious nature of a marriage that has dissipated from a lack of communication. Her "Waitress" co-star Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") takes the helm in her directorial debut, and her lack of experience may attribute to the fact that it feels more like a filmed stage play despite Nancy Schreiber's expert cinematography.

The brief story focuses on married couple, Louise and Ian, on a day when they unexpectedly cross paths at their bucolic vacation home. A high-powered fortyish attorney, she comes home to find her house showered romantically with rose petals and Ian writing a Dear Jane letter to her. He has decided after thirteen years of marriage that he wants a divorce, so he can rendezvous with his 24-year-old girlfriend Sarah in Paris. Unwilling to accept that her marriage has gone kaput, Louise inadvertently knocks him out with a flower pot and takes advantage of his unconsciousness in order to duct tape him to a chair until he relents. This is the beginning of a roundelay in which they spar about the merits of their marriage. Ian spends most of the 84-minute running time stuck on the toilet as he faces one humiliation after another. Even though Louise exhibits vaguely sociopathic behavior, she does not represent the only threat to Ian.

There is a nasty twist to the story in the form of an interloper that turns their vituperative cat-and-mouse game into a game of survival. The open ending doesn't quite satisfy, although the implications that it raises lends texture to what has gone on before. Ryan acquits herself well as Louise, and although it's not remarkable work, it shows that the actress could thrive into middle-age with her fizzy spirit intact. She manages to give heart to the tenacious hold her character has on her flailing marriage. In a welcome big-screen return as Ian, Timothy Hutton does what he can under a lot of duct tape in a mostly passive role with moments of vented exasperation, while Kristin Bell ("Forgetting Sarah Marshall") shows surprising grit as Sarah, especially toward the end when the women grapple on the bathroom floor. Justin Long provides a menacing edge to the smallish role of the lawn-mowing low-life. More than Hines' workmanlike direction, Shelly's somewhat uneven screenplay offers enough dark elements to make the contrived set-up worth accepting for the sake of the unfolding story she wanted to tell.

Ian (Timothy Hutton) wants to have a day with his mistress Sara (Kristen Bell) but his high-powered lawyer wife Louise (Meg Ryan) surprises him by showing up a day early. He is packing to leave her when she takes him prisoner. She vows to win him over. She lies to Sara about their impending separation and sends her away. While Louise is out, Ian gets the attention of lawnmower Todd (Justin Long). Instead of helping, Todd starts robbing the home.

Adrienne Shelly has written a quirky story. However it doesn't have enough comedy and directing novice Cheryl Hines is unable to inject any. Ryan and Hutton are angry but the comedy falls flat. The quirky tone is not funny until the last act when Hutton, Ryan and Bell are locked in the bathroom. It's a little late although it's good to end on a good note. The movie needs to have that tone from the start.

First off, don't buy this movie unless your a colector of Meg Ryan films etc...

Secondly, rent it only when you have rented 90 percent of all the other movies you want to see....

Meg Ryan, and I am a fan, was quite good in this film and for that reason only I have rated it a 6 out of 10.

I don't want to give away any part of the movie at all however, there is a scene with Timothy Hutton (Ian). I guess its a dream or a flashback, i'm not at all sure how it fits into the film but its half way in and its at least a minute long where most woman will be absolutely shocked that Meg Ryan was part of this filth.

My suggestion, watch it with your female friends, most men will only appreciate 1 minute of this shocking film.

"Serious Moonlight" deserves to be seen for a number of reasons.

First, it is written by the late Adrienne Shelly (best known for "Waitress" (2007)). After her death, her husband set up the Adrienne Shelly Foundation to help women pursue their film-making dreams. Money earned from her films goes towards this foundation.

Second, there are a lot of elements in this film that are pretty original which seems to be a hard feat to accomplish for most films today.

Third, the interesting casting choices, which give us the pleasure of seeing Meg Ryan and Timothy Hutton in mature, grown up roles but acting childishly-stupid with glimmers of maturity and wisdom. After seeing this movie, I believe they are the only actors who could pull it off so beautifully. Add to this, Justin Long in a funny and very surprising role, and then the adorable Kristin Bell who for once is actually playing a character less-accomplished than the average woman her age.

"Serious Moonlight" is a romantic comedy of sorts where we have a husband divorcing his wife so he can be with his younger mistress. Include a couple criminal activities and all plans get thrown out the window. Every turn in this movie is funny, original, thoughtful, and romantic - in its own weird way.

I recommend spending your money on "Serious Moonlight". Rest in Peace, Adrienne.

Louise: Because, my love, you are going to stay there until we work things out.

And so begins this drama between a married couple with no children, he a corporate office employee, she a successful lawyer.

I agree with most all previous posters mentioned. To pull off a story that will keep you interested until the very end with just 3 major players is quite a feat. The strength lies, of course, in the powerful dialogue between them. But more than that, this story is not just a flick on failed relationships, but on WHY they fail. Luoise (Meg Ryan) cannot and will not accept the fact that Ian (Timothy Hutton), her husband, wishes to leave her. She cannot accept he has fallen in love with a lovely, younger woman. But the truth is not so simple. If you listen carefully past the hurt locker, you will hear reasons, good ones, as to why these things happen. The fault is not entirely the wife's, but it is not entirely the husband's either. What happens is that in most cases, problems never get talked about and discussed. In this story, events unfolded in such a way they were forced to.

But then again, we have the usual guilt/blame game. It took both of them quite some time to accept where they had failed, Louise much longer than Ian. In the middle, you have Sara (Kristen Bell), who obviously loved Ian and went to lengths to fight for him. In the end, as they say, may the best man (or woman) win, but if you notice carefully, there was something lacking in Ian when these scenes were being played out, something which makes you think , "Ok, now, seriously, are you gonna be a man about this or what?" I couldn't help feeling sorry for the girl - she was obviously sincere and showed it without compunction.

However, just when you think you've got it all figured out and you see the pieces falling into place, well here comes the final scene, where you say, "What? what just happened...hello? what was that? run that by me again?" and you feel like I did, like the wind had just been knocked out of me and I sat staring at the screen wondering what I saw. Ingenious! I'm sitting here writing this and still turning this scene over and over in my mind, contemplating the different possible meanings.

I don't agree the movie is a waste of time or disappointing. Don't think this is another exercise at flogging the dead horse of marital what-have-you problems. No, this is an ingenious and well-written story, a bit off the regular path, yes, and bizarre in some ways, but well done. I don't think anyone's acting was poor either. The humorous parts made me laugh, and the sad ones made me shake my head in sorrow.

Watch it and enjoy yourself! Well worth it!!