How I wish I could pin this one on the director. Of late, I've been particularly peeved with "directorial artsiness", manifested by music playing over dialog, backlighted scenes, hand-held cameras, etc. It didn't happen in Moonlight Mile. And the acting was superb -- certainly to be expected with three Oscar winners, a bright up-and-coming young man, and a shining new ingenue. But, it dragged. Oh, my, how it dragged. Scenes that looked as though film had been purchased wholesale; painfully unscripted silences; sequences that appeared more "stills" than "movies. Is the director at fault? Perhaps...but can you really blame the director? Because, in this case, the director also WROTE the screenplay! In other words, he apparently WANTED it that way. So, what can I say...except that I will carefully avoid any further efforts on which Mr. Silberling writes, directs...and produces. Unless I need a sleeping potion, accompanied by skilled but wasted actors.
Review of Moonlight Mile
