Review #1499: The Man in the Moon.
Cast:
Sam Waterston (Matthew Trant), Tess Harper (Abigail Trant), Reese Witherspoon (Dani Trant), Gail Strickland (Marie Foster), Jason London (Court Foster), Emily Warfield (Maureen Trant), Bentley Mitchum (Billy Sanders), Ernie Lively (Will Sanders), and Dennis Letts (Doc White) Directed by Robert Mulligan (#116 - To Kill a Mockingbird)
Review:
"When I was little, I really wanted to be an actor, which was kind of weird because my mom and dad were both in the medical industry."
"Coming from Bronx Irish is hardly Southern. But there was that sense of the Irish storytellers, the fairy tales.”
When the doors of one film career closes, another career opens up for someone else. This was the last film directed by Robert Mulligan, who had started work in directing after serving in the US Navy and graduating from Fordham University in 1948. A messenger job at CBS led to directing in television in an era soon labeled as the "Golden Age of Television", directing for television programs starting in 1952 for shows such as Suspense, Studio One in Hollywood, and Playhouse 90. His one major award win was a Primetime Emmy Award for his direction of the television production adaptation of "The Moon and Sixpence" (1959). By that time, he had entered into the world of film with Fear Strikes Out (1957), with Alan J. Pakula as producer (the two would produce six more films with each other over the next eleven years). Despite not being known for having a particular personal vision with his films, he managed to cultivate a dedicated career for himself that reflected his attitudes towards honest storytelling, which resulted in notable films such as To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and Summer of '42 (1971). As for a beginning, this was the debut film appearance of Reese Witherspoon. She had expressed an interest in acting from a young age, doing work in an advertisement for a flower store at age seven. She found herself interested in a casting call for this film hoping to win a teenage bit part but ended up cast as the lead role due to impressing Mulligan.
There is a fair sense of timelessness when it comes to this film, which generally reaches most of its melodramatic points with well-put flourish and a game cast that does not betray its homespun foundations for no good reason. There is a sharp atmosphere that is quite riveting in making an interesting coming-of-age story come through in various forms of careful moments of clicking energy within its young and traditional actors. Witherspoon proves a worthy focus to keep an eye on, wrapped with energy that moves from scene to scene with confidence for someone so young that springs well with any kind of useful scene with others, such as talking about having a first kiss or actually doing one. Waterston seems quite suited to lead the film on with careful honesty to his surroundings without having to say too much. Harper follows along in the same vein, doing fine with carrying the film in the little moments. London alongside Strickland represent the other side to focus on in the film, with the former providing an adequate interest to pair off with Witherspoon (or Warfield) with small bright moments that blend in with some conflict that he runs through without making a clunky note of. On that note, Warfield proves the final key to filling the cast with wandering grace that makes her bonds count fine. On the whole, the pace is kept on the level for 100 minutes with reasonable movements and careful planning in its story of growth and tragedy that proves a worthy winner for Mulligan to go out on and for Witherspoon to start out with.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
