SERIOUS MOONLIGHT (2009) - Movie Review

Director: Cheryl Hines
Starring: Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Kristen Bell, Justin Long
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Writer: Adrienne Shelley
Runtime: 81 min
Rated: Rated R for language and some threatening behavior
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

This blog is supported by its audience. When you buy through links on my blog, I may earn an affiliate commission.

Synopsis:

Louise (Meg Ryan), a successful lawyer, wants to jump-start her failing marriage to Ian (Timothy Hutton). She decides to surprise him at their country cottage, but quickly discovers she's the one who's surprised: Ian has decorated the cottage for a romantic weekend with his girlfriend, Sara (Kristen Bell). When Ian proposes getting a divorce, Louise rejects the idea and ties him up so they can talk things out. Things get out of hand when Sara shows up and a burglar (Justin Long) breaks in.

Review:

Meg Ryan's career went downhill after her 1990s America's sweetheart phase, and no matter how hard she tried she would forever be stuck with the rom-com actress brand. In an attempt to break away and diversify she starred in films like Jane Campion's 2003 erotic thriller "In the Cut" and the 2004 boxing drama "Against the Ropes", both critical and financial disasters. She continued to struggle with negative reviews and lacklustre box-office results for most of the films she made between 2007 and 2010.

The subject of this review is the 2009 dud "Serious Moonlight" (which borrows its title from the lyrics of a David Bowie song) a film directed by actress Cheryl Hines in her directorial debut from a script by actress, writer and director Adrienne Shelly. Shelley was murdered in 2006 in New York City when she caught a construction worker breaking into her office to steal money.

The big problem is that this movie doesn't quite know what it wants to be. Its structure resembles that of a theatre play, the entire movie taking place within one location, the house of husaband and wife Ian (Timothy Hutton) and Louise (Meg Ryan). When Ian tells Louise that he's leaving her for another woman, Louise has a nervous breakdown, bashes him in the head with a potted plant and ties him down with duct tape. What follows is a conversational post-mortem of a failed marriage that half-way through turns into a home invasion thriller.

So, is it a comedy ? I did not find anything funny about it. Is it a drama ? No, it's much too farcical for that. Maybe it's a thriller ? I have to say it's surprisingly violent and mean-spirited, but no, that's not it either. So what the hell is this movie ? It's much too simplistic and airheaded to be insightful in any meaningful way, but also too ugly and sadistic for audiences to have some lighthearted fun with it.

Basically every character in this movie is abusive, loud, obnoxious, overbearing and unlikable. Ryan and Hutton, who previously worked together on "French Kiss", are good actors and give it all they've got, but it's all in vain because the writing just doesn't click. Hines' lack of experience in the director's chair also works against the movie. The core ideas are not bad, and with a better director to reign in all the excess and help flesh out the characters more, it could have been a much better movie. As it is, however, it's definitely one you can skip.

SCORE: 5/10