Moonlight Mile Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)September 30th, 2002
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If you couldn't get enough familial grieving in the equally overrated In the Bedroom or The Son's Room, hold on to your weepy little hats because Brad Silberling's Moonlight Mile just might do the trick. Like both of those films, Mile is about the sudden and bewildering death of a young person, and the pain, angst and guilt that follow for the surviving family members. And like those films, Mile doesn't follow a predictable, formulaic path. But it generally does a better job than either of those two films, despite a silly ending that offers a little too much in the way of closure.
When the film opens, we tag along with a family on their way to a funeral. The drive hurtles the three main characters past various Rockwellian scenes of suburban normalcy (Mile is set in a small New England town in the early '70s), such as a wedding and kids playing baseball, which is quite the contrast to the abnormality going on in the car. The funeral is for twentysomething Diana Floss, who was tragically killed when she caught a bullet meant for someone else while waiting tables at a local diner. She was the only child of Ben (Dustin Hoffman, The Messenger) and JoJo (Susan Sarandon, The Banger Sisters), and was about to marry live-in boyfriend Joe Nast (Jake Gyllenhaal, The Good Girl). The perpetually hunched-over Joe is still living with the in-laws he will now never have.
For a few minutes following the funeral scene, you might think Mile is gearing up to be some preachy film about the death penalty, as Joe & Co. head downtown to visit DA Mona Camp (Holly Hunter, O Brother, Where Art Thou?), where a discussion occurs revolving around the punishment for the accused killer. Luckily, this thread is abandoned until the aforementioned finale. In between, we're treated to a very dark portrayal of this unique, dysfunctional family. None of the fully realized main characters is a cliché, as each has developed their own way of dealing with the situation. Ben, a commercial real estate agent, is far too in touch with his feelings and tries to incite others to talk about what they're going through. JoJo, a writer, just wants everyone to fuck off, and is irritated by people being too sympathetic or not sympathetic enough. Joe seems like he's in another world, and we learn why a little later on when he drops a bombshell of his own.
When Joe goes to the post office in an attempt to retrieve his just-sent wedding invitations, he meets and falls for the kooky Bertie Knox (Ellen Pompeo), another flawed soul who has been waiting three years for her man to return home from Viet Nam. No wonder the kid is hunched over and suffers from zany nightmares - he's falling in love with a potential psycho while still living with the parents of his not-yet-cold fiancée (plus the other thing that I'm not mentioning). I'm sure even Jerry Seinfeld doesn't have a rule about how long you're supposed to wait to date after your fiancée dies.
Between a rock and a hard place, Joe is. Watching him, Ben and JoJo do their slow dance around the sudden and palpable emptiness in their lives is incredibly painful. Since he's the only living connection Ben and JoJo have to Diana, Ben feels he can't move out of their home, which only seems to perpetuate the situation. Joe even goes so far as to express interest in becoming Ben's partner in the real estate game (an unnecessary thread involving a seedy agent played by Dabney Coleman is another minor stumbling block).
Save the big courtroom finale, Mile seems very, very real and is full of great dialogue. Anyone wondering how Silberling (City of Angels) made this Curtis Hanson-like (The Hand That Rocks the Cradle to L.A. Confidential) leap should know that the situation is at least somewhat based in reality. Silberling was engaged to actress Rebecca Schaeffer in 1989, when she was murdered by a crazy stalker. Then again, I kind of liked Angels, but it had the impossible task of measuring up to Wim Wenders' original version. In addition to being well-versed in tragedy, Silberling is also blessed with a great cast who all log solid performances. Especially eye-catching is Pompeo, who looks like Diane Lane with Renée Zellweger's mouth and is set to play Karen Page in next year's blockbuster-to-be, Daredevil. Great period music, too, including the titular Rolling Stones song.
1:52 - PG-13 for some sensuality and brief strong language
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