SERIOUS MOONLIGHT
So this is probably the only review I’ll ever write of a film that I spent the entirety of the shoot working on. For a number of unimportant reasons which I don’t need to go into, I found myself working as a camera intern on this 3 week shoot, so I guess I know a little bit more about it than any of the other films I have written about thus far. I may even have a little more fondness, a little more bias, a wish to at least like it.
The film is a production of one of Adrienne Shelly’s last screenplays. Shelly, who wrote and directed Waitress and had an established career as an actress closely associated with Hal Hartley, was brutally murdered in 2008. Her husband Andrew Ostroy and friend Cheryl Hines decided to develop another of her projects after.
So the mood of the project was bittersweet as everyone involved understood the circumstances. Ostroy as one of the producers and with a cameo as the policeman who investigates the break-in later in the movie was on set almost every day and seemed to be genuinely delighted to see the film come to life. This is probably because Shelley’s talent as a storyteller was marked by a zany-ness: unexpected behavior backed by honest explanations, women who do the unexpected, who are allowed to move beyond the strictly delimited boundaries of so many conventional Hollywood scripts.
Ostroy was also, no doubt, delighted by the cast: the embodiment of the Shelly’s hero, Louise is Meg Ryan. Now this was my first time (and last BTW) on a full tilt, professional motion picture set with real movie stars and a very experienced crew. Watching Ryan step in and out of character, working with Timothy Hutton to bring the enliven Shelly’s words was a study in true professionalism. I had to try not to stare with my mouth open in wonder as I was supposed to be part of the background support staff, jaded like the others, who deal with this every day. Needless to say, I had to be told to get out of the eyeline many times: thank god it wasn’t Christian Bale.
It’s a small story. Louise (Ryan), a high-powered New York City lawyer decides to surprise her husband at their vacation house in Rhinebeck, a quaint little town upstate. Upon entering said abode, Louise finds rose petals...how romantic...except it’s a surprise. The next surprise happens when he tells her it’s over and involves a flower pot and some duct tape. There’s a young girlfriend Kristen Bell and a bandana sporting gardener (Justin Long).
It’s a testament to editors, sound and music people that these pieces I observed separately, were put together and shaped into something quietly absurd, oddly funny. Waitress was fine, it had a bigger budget and told a little bit more of a story in some ways, but I think I like this one a little more. The point is small, the timeline is confined and contained, it’s almost like a little, tiny, relationship thriller: one woman’s revenge, performed most beautifully by Ryan without embellishments but enough of her wit to call up her true gifts.
Or maybe I’m just biased.
Serious Moonlight opens December 4, 2009.
For more of my adventures on set, look out for my upcoming essay collection...IN PRODUCTION.
Directed by Cheryl Hines; written by Adrienne Shelly; produced by Andy Ostroy and Michael Roiff; Director of Photography, Nancy Schreiber; edited by Steven Rasch; music by Andrew Hollander.
With: Meg Ryan (Louise); Timothy Hutton (Ian); Kristen Bell (Sara); Justin Long (Todd); Nathan Dean (Detective) and Andy Ostroy (Police Officer.)
