Trailer - 'Serious Moonlight' Looks Seriously Flawed

Did you know that "some threatening behavior" is a reason to give a film a R rating? And would you suspect a movie written by the late Adrienne Shelly (Waitress) and directed by Curb Your Enthusiasm's Cheryl Hines would have that ratings board warning hanging over its head? The movie is Serious Moonlight, and it stars Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, and Kristen Bell as points along a bizarre love triangle. It played the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year and will be released in December. I loved Waitress; it's one of the better films from 2007. This, though, does not look any good at all. I'm sure there was a point where Meg Ryan was convincing, but that time seems to have passed. I mean, even in these little moments in the trailer, she seems completely disconnected with the material. The unfortunate thing in this case is that Ryan's the selling point, as she is supposed to be in most of her movies. Perhaps it's just the trailer that's bad. Again, Waitress was so good that there could be quite a bit to like about this movie in the final analysis. But it sure doesn't look like it to me.

Comments

[Callie]

I saw this recently at the Scottsdale Intl Film Festival. Yes, Meg is disconnected from the material in a few scenes. But you know what? It's amazing. Adrienne Shelly's script more than makes up for any flaws. It's hilarious, heartfelt, and just so fresh. Shelly was such a fresh voice and amazing talent. And taken from us all too early.

[awesomeperson]

What does the ending mean when the gardener walks by and it gets all awkward?

[cece]

i took it to mean, especially by timothy's response, that the robbery was planned by ryan as part of her plan to brng them back together

[Jo]

This is the worst movie I have ever watched. Meg Ryan is her usual whinging self and to call it a Romantic Comedy is the only funny thing about the movie!

[Maggie]

I am not a fan of Meg Ryan because she always seems the same in all her movies. However, she was really good in this one. Yes, I agree that she definitely hired the robbers. But what's weird is that she instructed the thief to knock her uncounscious (it hurts and its scary). She gave him permission to hurt her and have a party in her house overnight? Also, when the thief mows the lawn, he is not wearing his scarf over his face when he looks up to see the husband in the window. In addition, in the morning, when Sarah knocks at the door, the thief initially doesn't have his scarf covering his face...I don't know what to think of that, maybe I'm looking too much into these details.

I also think that Meg could have had her child with the robber. Maybe her husband was to blame for not getting pregnant so she got the robber to get her pregnant. Afterall, the husband had an affair...she's a smart lawyer and has a sense of justice. She may had figured that she could sleep with the robber since her husband had an affair.

Just my thought.

[Susan]

Remember Louise threw up in the flowerbed? I think she was already pregnant with the gardener's child;maybe from an affair with him, but she had eneded it. Then she "needed" her husband to stay with her to raise the child.When he said he was going to leave she panicked. She kept saying she needed him but didn't say how; he said he felt unneeded by her up to that point. Maybe the gardener came to rob the house in revenge; he obviously wanted a sexual relationship with her and was jealous of the husband. The looks the gardener and Louise gave each other at the end made me think they had had a relationship and she kept walking not wanting to answer any questions about the baby.