Serious Moonlight,
directed by Cheryl Hines
(Magnolia, 2009)


MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD. THE ENDING WILL BE REVEALED. YOU ARE WARNED.

Ahem. This clever rom com is virtually a two-character play and most of it transpires in a bathroom. Early on, I began to sense all was not as it seemed. And it's not.

Everything in the movie points to it being a set up by Louise (Meg Ryan). Let's count the ways --

From the moment she arrived at the house, her whole attitude is fake innocent. Any other woman would be suspicious that her husband (Timothy Hutton) had strewn rose petals all over the place, but wasn't expecting his wife.

Lawn boy (Justin Long) shows up oh so conveniently just after Louise goes into town for food.

Lawn boy is listening to music on his riding mower and cannot hear hubby's screams for help or banging on the bathroom window. Where does he decide to shut off the mower and remove his head set? Directly beneath the bathroom window.

When Louise returns to the house, her confrontation with lawn boy is entirely off camera. We just see the fishbowl smash and hear her screams and see the alarm on hubby's face. It's all an act by Louise and lawn boy.

When lawn boy drags Louise into the bathroom, apparently unconscious, and tapes her up, the husband begins his long, tearful confession that he really loves her. Supposedly she is knocked out and not hearing it, but the camera shows close ups of her face. She does not look unconscious. It is strongly hinted she is hearing this.

Lawn boy acts all lustful over Louise, even feeling her up when unconscious. Then he turns to hubby and says something like, "How could you not want this?"

If you really want to immobilize someone with duct tape, you tape their hands behind their back, not in front. Louise has her hands duct taped in front of her. There are broken mirror shards on the floor. Hello?

When husband said he hoped the crooks would not take the heirloom silver set, a red flag went up and I said, they won't. They didn't. What kind of crooks leave behind a chest of silver sitting in plain sight?

And what kind of crooks clean the house of loot, then stick around all night to drink and party? Could it be to give Louise more time with her husband?

The only question is, how did Louise find out about the affair? And how did she know hubby was going to be at the house a day early, preparing to fly to Paris in the morning with his girlfriend (Kristen Bell)? I guess we just have to go along.

As to the final scene, it could have been better. As Louise, her husband and lawn boy pass on the street, what if they exchanged knowing glances, but the husband doesn't see and remains clueless. Way cooler, I think.




Rambles.NET
review by
Dave Sturm


20 June 2010


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