The Film
Writer/director/actress Adrienne Shelly's life was tragically cut short by her senseless murder in 2006. She left behind a husband, a daughter, and the script for Serious Moonlight. Her Waitress co-star, Cheryl Hines, took the script and with Shelly's husband's blessing (and producing efforts), has turned out her first directing effort.
Unlike 2007's Waitress, Serious Moonlight has a very stereotypical plot. Ian (Timothy Hutton) is sick of being married to Louise (Meg Ryan), and decides to trade her in for a younger model (Kristen Bell). Louise doesn't take to the news very well, and decides to duct-tape her husband of 13 years to a chair, and eventually, the toilet.
After a bout of Louise's horrible singing and flinging flowerpots, a burglar (Justin Long) steps in and Sara (Bell) flips out, sending the entire plot into a different direction.
This is the second pairing of Ryan and Hutton. In 1995's French Kiss, Hutton was a cheating louse, longing for a life in Paris. Ryan tracks him down to beg for her romantic life. Sound familiar? Well, now it's 15 years later and the "please take me back" role for Ryan is a lot less cute. Sure, that's sort of the point, but it's more than a little scary and downright sad here.
Want a second opinion? Check out Lexi Feinberg's review of the theatrical review of Serious Moonlight.
The Picture
We almost wanted to check the disc to make sure this was a Blu-ray. Yeah, it doesn't look so good. We know it's a dark comedy, but Serious Moonlight is actually a dark comedy. The colors never pop, even during the opening scenes with endless roses and rose petals. How does that happen? Detail is poor, especially in wider shots. Closer images just remind you how every scene seems very soft. Maybe that fuzziness was dropped in to soften up some of Ryan's features, but instead makes the 1.78:1 transfer just look bad.
The Sound
The audio is the least offensive part of this movie. However, except for the occasional flowerpot to the noggin, there's not much for the DTS-HD Master Audio track to do here. There are a few ambient country noises chirping in the surrounds, but when there is action, it's usually hovering near the front. The dialogue does sound good, and never gets drowned out by the soundtrack. Speaking of which, there is a good array of music throughout the film, with jazz being the best standout.
The Extras
The two shorts on this release are stictly puff pieces, made to make Serious Moonlight look like a good movie. Nope, we just aren't buying it. The one saving grace might be the commentary, which features Shelly's widower, Andy Ostroy. We can't imagine you'd want to sit through another viewing of the movie just to hear him chat it up with Hines and co-producer Michael Roiff. However, taking the dialogue away might make this a better movie.
Final Thoughts
Shelly was a real talent in the world of film. Her loss really made us want to like Serious Moonlight. The cast looked good on paper, with Timothy Hutton and Kristen Bell. We even like Meg Ryan flipping her cutesy rom-com persona and becoming the witch we always knew she could be. However, it's just not entertaining. That, coupled with a bad Blu-ray transfer makes Serious Moonlight a serious disappointment.
Product Details
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