Moonlight Mile

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<div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="501" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 208 WIDTH="495"><div> <IMG SRC="12e382820.jpg" border=0 width="130" height="130" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006JIC9/reelmoviecriticc"> Buy Soundtrack from Amazon.com</A>  </div> <div>  <IMG SRC="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/serve?bfmid=2181&sourceid=31770466&bfpid=0786936209952&bfmtype=dvd" BORDER="0" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" NOSAVE ><A HREF="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=2181&sourceid=31770466&bfpid=0786936209952&bfmtype=dvd" TARGET="_top">Buy DVD from Barnes & Noble</A> <P>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>Moonlight Mile</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Wingdings 2" ><B>êêê</B></FONT><B> (PG-13)</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By Brenda Sexton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="545"><div> Tender Pain</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Ben Floss:  Dustin Hoffman</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> JoJo Floss:  Susan Sarandon</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Joe Nast:  Jake Gyllenhaal</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Mona Camp:  Holly Hunter</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Ellen Pompeo:  Bertie Knox</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="304" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Director/Writer:  Brad Silberling</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="304" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: A young man's fiancé was accidentally killed and he finds it very difficult to move out of her parents' home and start a new life.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Joe Nast (Jake Gyllenhaal) gives a tender portrayal of a young man searching for his identity, while he tries to please everyone and simultaneously honor his dead fiancé.  He's living a bit of a lie, while his fiancé's parents, Ben (Dustin Hoffman) and JoJo Floss (Susan Sarandon) treat him as they would a son.  All living under the same roof, Joe, Ben and JoJo co-exist and seem to be in different worlds as they cope with their brutal grief. As dreams mix with reality, <I>Moonlight Mile</I> captures the sad, slow process of people forced by life to move on after a tragic, untimely death of a loved one.</div> <bR> <div> Joe dutifully joins Ben and JoJo at the legal sessions with attorney Mona Camp (Holly Hunter) as Ben and JoJo seek justice against their daughter's killer. Joe desperately wants to make everything right and ease the pain for them, but unfortunately he can't and in the process of not being able to, is forced to grow up and establish who he is.    Director/writer Brad Silberling manages to keep the story from being maudlin and predictably emotional.  He brings us a realistic view of the simple pain faced everyday by these characters dealing with this young girl's death.</div> <bR> <div> The parents see Joe slipping away as he develops an interest in Bertie (Ellen Pompeo), the sweet and delightful postal worker by day in this tiny town and bartender in the local pub by night.  Like Joe, Bertie is living her life disconnected from her heart, which she gave away years ago to a man not coming back.  </div> <bR> <div> Similar to last year's big hit <A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/2000/id904.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/2000/id90"><U><I><B>In The Bedroom,</B></I></U></A><I> Moonlight Mile's</I> impact is not in the tragedy of the death itself, but rather in how the people so crushed by it deal with the continuation of their lives. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: In addition to a good, well-written story, the casting alone in this film is brilliant.  Susan Sarandon and Dustin Hoffman play off each other magnificently as a couple who love but are frequently intolerant of each other.  They mutually cling to Joe, expressing their need of him in their own different ways.</div> <bR> <div> Jake Gyllenhaal delicately captures the character of a young man struggling not only with a tragedy, but also with the direction of his life and who he truly is.  His character, Joe, is a warm and ironic reminder to us of Dustin Hoffman's Ben in "The Graduate."  Similar in both roles, the main character is a young man terrified to confront the truth, but ultimately forced to.</div> <bR> <div> Holly Hunter makes a great attorney bringing the awful and unfathomable reality to Ben and JoJo that the killer may actually get a light sentence. </div> <bR> <div> This is a well-crafted, believable story with fully developed, multi-layered characters, brilliantly captured by an outstanding cast.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Rating PG-13 (Adult theme)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Brenda D. Sexton © 2002</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Brenda@reelmoviecritic.com</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>Mini Filmography </B></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Dustin Hoffman:  The Graduate</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Susan Sarandon:  Step Mom</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 ><NOBR><div> Jake Gyllenhaal:  <A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/2002/id1834.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/2002/id18"><U><B>Donnie Darko</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Holly Hunter:  Living Out Loud</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Ellen Pompeo:  Eventual Wife</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="286" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Brad Silberling:  City of Angels</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="286" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>