With man's first steps on the moon in the summer of 1969 used as a temporal and metaphorical backdrop for the drama that ensues, "A Walk on the Moon" is a solid, if slow-moving affair that borders on melodrama, but is fortunately saved -- to some degree -- by the decent performances from its talented cast.
With a plot more akin to something of a combination of a regular daytime soap opera and a made- for-TV movie than a theatrical release, the film offers few surprises other than a questionable and -- in my opinion -- disappointing and unbelievable ending (but hey, it's Hollywood so what else can you expect?).
Plodding along through all of the familiar trappings related to the fallout surrounding a discovered affair, the film has the right "period" feel -- the Apollo mission and Woodstock concert clearly helping in that regard, although they turn out not to be much more than plot devices -- and is familiar in many ways to the more enjoyable, lively, and somewhat similarly plotted "Dirty Dancing."
Both concern families (one wealthy, the other working middle class) who head off to a mountain "resort" for their quaint, annual vacation. What's supposed to be a joyous, relaxing time, however, is disrupted in both by daughters who, through their coming of age metamorphoses, take on and represent an emerging, cross generational clash of cultures.
Of course in "Dirty Dancing" Jennifer Gray's mother didn't run off with another man and that's where these two films diverge onto completely disparate paths. While this one obviously wasn't intended to be like the other -- and not to come off sounding preachy, but -- the adulterous course is what seriously harms this picture.
Although many people nowadays seem rather blase about extramarital affairs -- unless, of course, it directly involves them -- the film and its central protagonist never recover from her actions. Yes, it's clear that she's not happy with how her life has turned out -- pregnant, married and raising a family since the age of seventeen -- and she's obviously hitting her midlife crisis two decades earlier than most.
Nonetheless -- and despite the fact that this is a movie where something out of the ordinary must occur -- the fact that she has an affair and then wants everything to be back to normal just didn't sit well with this reviewer. Thus, I ended up despising her character ever more as the story limped along to its conclusion. While that might have been first-time director Tony Goldwyn and screenwriter Pamela Gray's intention, that doesn't exactly make for an enjoyable or entertaining movie experience.
Fortunately for them and the film, the performances are quite strong and, for better or worse, the characters' motivation and resulting behavior are for the most part, very believable. Given the unenviable task of playing a woman who wants to straddle the fence above two sides of green grass, Diane Lane ("Murder at 1600," "Streets of Fire") gives what could be the best performance of her career. Although a major criticism of the film regards its slow tempo, that pacing does allow for Lane to let her character more fully develop, and one can easily identify, but not necessarily agree with the motivation behind her resulting actions.
One of the more underrated and underused (in leading parts) actors working today, Liev Schreiber ("Scream," "Sphere") also delivers a great performance as the working class stiff who works like a dog to support his family. Playing out an interesting contrast to Lane's character -- where he's accepted his "destiny" while she still longs for sewing her oats -- Schreiber is nothing less than completely believable and easily manages to create an entirely sympathetic character.
Equally as good is Anna Paquin ("Fly Away Home" and an Oscar winner for "The Piano") as the rebellious daughter whose beckoning freedom mirrors her mother's similar desires to break free of her own confines. While Paquin could have easily played the typical rebellious teen without much difficulty, she brings nice subtleties to her character that also make her performance quite believable.
Viggo "The Other Man" Mortensen ("G.I. Jane") -- who will soon be typecast, if he's not careful, as the "marriage buster" after this film and last year's "A Perfect Murder" -- ably delivers what's needed from his mostly stereotypical character. Although his "wear it on your sleeves" sexuality and free-spiritedness are present solely as a catalytic plot device for Pearl to act upon, it would have been nice, however, had his character been a bit more developed.
Although the film comes off mostly sounding like a downer, Goldwyn and Gray have wisely interspersed the film with some much needed comic relief -- in the form of what sounds like Julie Kavner as the "resort's" ever present P.A. announcer, and Tovah Feldshuh as Pearl's self- proclaimed clairvoyant mother-in-law -- both of which at least make this bitter pill a bit easier to swallow.
Despite the good performances and generally well-developed characters, the film isn't that enjoyable simply because of the subject matter and the fact that the protagonist -- the person whose job is to take us by the hand and lead us through her journey -- comes off as an unlikable person, no matter her dashed dreams and missed opportunities.
Films like this have a hard enough time succeeding without the audience coming to despise the central character -- a person we initially liked -- and that turns out to be a large flaw for this one. As such, we give "A Walk on the Moon" just a 4.5 out of 10.
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