Moonlight Mile (2002)

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, Holly Hunter, Camden Munson
Director: Brad Silberling

Rating: PG-13

Studio: Touchstone

Review Posted: 10.02.02

Spoilers: Minor

Rating: 3/4

By Sara M. Fetters.

Moonlight Mile might be the single most honest film ever made on the subject of grief. Not about death or dying, loss or regret, but about the grieving process itself: the highs, lows, in-betweens and the way all of them wrap, loop and intertwine.

Ben (Hoffman) and JoJo Floss (Sarandon) have tragically lost their daughter. Finding coping difficult, they take her fiancé Joe Nast (Gyllenhaal) deep into their lives, treating him like the son-in-law he was going to be. But Jake harbors a secret, unsure if revealing it to the Flosses would be prudent during this difficult time in the couple’s lives; believing that deception just might be more honest than the truth.

Brad Silberling’s (Casper, City of Angels) film is compelling if nothing else. Life is full of loss and regret, and the different ways that people deal with it all is an integral part of their humanity. Loosely based on the director’s own experiences – his fiancée My Sister Sam actress Rebecca Schaeffer was brutally murdered by a stalker in 1989 – Moonlight Mile is a film intent on examining the grieving process in all its surreal entirety. For every tear there is a laugh, every frown a smile, and the film covers these moments with a naturalistic and even-handed deftness.

Yet, despite all this, the film doesn’t reach greatness. Part of this is due to the hangdog performance of Gyllenhaal. An excellent young actor – you only need to see his potent portrayals in October Sky, Donnie Darko, Lovely & Amazing and The Good Girl for proof of that – he seems like Droopy Dog here more than anything else. Joe is going through a lot, yes, in Moonlight Mile, and the film’s events are sweeping him up at every turn, but it would still help if I felt more for him. It’s hard to understand what the Floss’ daughter would have seen in him for he’s nothing more than a blank slate as presented here.

It also doesn’t help that Silberling really turns on the screws during the film’s final twenty minutes. Not the most subtle of directors – just watch the misguided City of Angels for proof – as it is, Silberling almost ruins a good thing, trying much too hard to pull tears that deserve to be earned naturally. It’s a jarring an unnecessary turn of events, as Moonlight Mile was well on its way to doing just that.

Up until then, though, the director has written a doozy of an emotional screenplay for his talented Oscar-winning duo to sink their teeth into. I’ve never seen a film so willing to jump headfirst into the hurricane of emotion loss can bring about, and Hoffman and Sarandon are more than up to the task of diving head first into it.

Hoffman is sensational. Not for nothing is his character named “Ben,” echoing memories of The Graduate. It is easy to see the Benjamin from that 1967 film aging into the one here, a fragile man who’s spent a life trying to find himself and his way. Unable – unwilling – to deal with the fact that the distancing happening between himself and his lost daughter can never now be repaired, he tries to replace her with Joe, even making the young man partner in his struggling firm and renaming it Floss & Son.

On the flip side, JoJo has escaped into humor and biting sarcasm. Her mourning is so deep, she uses it as an excuse to finally do or say anything and everything she’s always wanted. Using life lessons and cutting diatribes to make her point, JoJo sees the hidden hurt in Joe, and it is only the deep stream of her own grief that keeps her from letting him release it.

To say Sarandon nails the character is an understatement. It is a given at this point that the woman is one of the finest actresses to have ever graced the screen, so a performance such as the one she delivers here is almost expected. That’s a shame, for this is a strong, startling and gifted actress and a performance such as this should be cherished no matter how excellent the body of work that’s come before.

It’s too bad that Moonlight Mile doesn’t quite connect like it should. I wanted so much to love this film as I left the theater, so much of it touched nerves deeply buried, but I just couldn’t stop myself from realizing that it only comes tantalizing close to perfection and nothing more. Silberling matures as a director, and the story he tells is effective and personal, but a leaden lead performance and an overtly ponderous final hold the film back. For that, I grieve just a bit, for Moonlight Mile could have been one to remember.

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