Moonlight Mile (film)

Moonlight Mile

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Brad Silberling
Produced by Brad Silberling
Mark Johnson
Susan Sarandon
Screenplay by Brad Silberling
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal
Dustin Hoffman
Susan Sarandon
Ellen Pompeo
Holly Hunter
Music by Mark Isham
Cinematography Phedon Papamichael, Jr.
Edited by Lisa Zeno Churgin
Production
company
Touchstone Pictures
Hyde Park Entertainment
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates
 September 24, 2002 (limited)
October 4, 2002
Running time
 117 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $21 million
Box office $10 million[1]

Moonlight Mile is a 2002 American romantic drama film written and directed by Brad Silberling. This film was loosely inspired by writer/director Brad Silberling's own experience. He was dating actress Rebecca Schaeffer at the time she was killed by an obsessed fan in 1989.

The film takes its name from the Rolling Stones song of the same name. The film's original title was Baby's in Black, and then later changed to Goodbye Hello, and then the current title. The film is set in 1973 and music from that era is heavily featured, including that of the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, and Elton John.

Plot

Following the murder of Diana Floss (Careena Melia) in a restaurant shooting in Cape Ann, Massachusetts in 1973, her fiancé Joe Nast (Jake Gyllenhaal) elects to stay with her parents. Her father Ben Floss (Dustin Hoffman) is a realtor whose business partner has recently left. Ben and Joe go into business as Floss & Son, as this was their plan before Diana's death. Joe goes to the post office to retrieve all the invitations that had been sent out for his and Diana's wedding, and with the help of Bertie Knox (Ellen Pompeo) he retrieves seventy four of seventy five. She finds the last invitation and takes it to his house later that night. He drops her off at a local bar, and returns home, despite her inviting him in for a drink. Joe and Ben attend a local property fair, and Ben pitches the idea of redeveloping a block in the town to developer Mike Mulcahey (Dabney Coleman). Mulcahey agrees, but they need to get all the tenants to agree.

Diana's friends come round to look through her possessions, much to the consternation of her mother Jojo (Susan Sarandon). They then take Joe out for a drink at the same bar Bertie went into the previous night. Joe puts "Moonlight Mile" on the jukebox and Bertie dances with him, to jealous looks from Diana's friends. Joe convinces Ben to let him talk to the bar's owner to convince them to sell. He asks the bartender who owns the bar, but the bartender does not give him the information. Feeling trapped at the Floss home, Joe goes to see Bertie and they sleep together. He leaves early the next morning.

Ben is frustrated at the lack of progress and goes to the bar to see the owner, where he meets Bertie and tells her about Diana. Bertie finds Joe and confronts him; he confesses to her that he had split up with Diana three days before she was killed. Bertie tells Joe about her boyfriend, the owner of the bar, who is lost in Vietnam. Joe goes to dinner at the Mulcahey's, where Mike's wife rudely presumes aloud that she thought Joe was not still tied up with thoughts of his fiancee's murder. Joe states that this is not the case, completely upsetting the mood at the dinner table. This causes Mike to call Ben and call off the deal. The family attends the trial of Diana's murderer. However the murderer's wife elicits sympathy from the jury, and the prosecutor, Mona Camp (Holly Hunter), asks Joe to testify and help the jury gain sympathy for Diana. While on the witness stand, Joe confesses that he and Diana had split and that they remained friends but were no longer getting married. Ben and Jojo are happy with the confession and gain closure. Joe symbolically writes 75 letters expressing his newfound clarity about what course his life ought to take and places them in mailboxes around town, hoping that one will get to Bertie.

Ben closes the shop, Jojo resumes her writing career, Bertie sells the bar, and she and Joe leave town.

Cast

Production

It was partially filmed on location in South Pasadena, California, Swampscott, Massachusetts, Marblehead, Massachusetts, the town common in Cohasset, Massachusetts, and Gloucester, Massachusetts. Neighbor's Restaurant is really Haley's Liquor Store in Marblehead.

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $10,011,050 worldwide from a $21 million budget.[1]

Critical reception

Moonlight Mile received mixed reviews from critics: the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes sampled 147 reviews, and gave the film a "63%" positive rating.[2]

Soundtrack

The Moonlight Mile soundtrack was released September 24, 2002 by Sony Records.[3]

  1. "I Want to Take You Higher" - Sly & The Family Stone
  2. "Moonlight Mile" - The Rolling Stones
  3. "Love Will Come Through" - Travis
  4. "Twentieth Century Boy" - T. Rex
  5. "Sweet Head" - David Bowie
  6. "Everybody Is a Star" - Sly & The Family Stone
  7. "I Hear You Knocking" - Dave Edmunds
  8. "Rock and Roll" (Part 2) - Gary Glitter was on part 1
  9. "Razor Face" - Elton John
  10. "Sweet Thing" - Van Morrison
  11. "Comin' Back to Me" - Jefferson Airplane
  12. "Buckets of Rain" - Bob Dylan
  13. "Song to the Siren" - Robert Plant
  14. "The Telling" - Jorma Kaukonen

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Moonlight Mile". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Moonlight Mile (2002)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  3. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006JIC9/internetmoviedat/

External links

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