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a+walk+on+the+moon | Year: 1999 Directed: - Tony Goldwyn Actors/Actresses: - Diane Lane - Viggo Mortensen - Vigo Mortensen A Mini Masterpiece of a Film A girlfriend of mine told me about this film, so I, being fond of nostalgic films, immediately sought out the DVD and bought it. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. I was a preteen in 1969, so it brought back many memories. It was presently realistically. The cinematography was beautiful. Being of Jewish faith and having spent many a summer up in the Catskills with family, I could relate easily. Diane Lane is one of my favorite actresses and I, too, am surprised that she is not yet a "big draw" in Hollywood. In my opinion, she is so much more talented than Julia Roberts and about as equally talented as Meg Ryan and has more "full-bodied" looks. She possesses beauty and brains without being threatening. I have read most of the reviews, though, and wonder why more hasn't been said of the performance of Tovah Felcher (grandmother). She is, indeed, a fine actress. The scene between her and Pearl, when she confronts Pearl about her ...is truly an exceptional and moving scene. She deserves to be recognized. In the 70s she was quite popular and very attractive...and I am happy to see her again in such a quality film. This is what movies SHOULD be In "A Walk on the Moon," Diane Lane and Liev Schrieber are fantastic as a moderately stodgy, 30-ish couple, whose placid, hobbit-like life together suddenly feels incredibly boring to Diane Lane. Her early mid-life crisis is pronouncedly exacerbated by the fact that she is experiencing it during the completely insane summer of 1969, right down the road from Woodstock. Due to this personal/marital crisis, she permits the advances of "the blouse man," a local travelling salesman (no smirks, please) to get bolder and bolder. She even starts initiating situations herself, which ineluctably lead to an illicit tryst, and then another, and another... This eventually blows up in her face, of course, and results in a very serious, intelligent look at a troubled marriage in troubled times, and makes the viewer think HARD about what they have in their lives that they feel lucky about, or ought to. There's also a nice little subplot about the daughter in the family coming of age, and how this dovetails with Diane Lane's own awakening. I have to ask right off the bat -- why isn't Diane Lane better known? It makes no sense at all. I know a number of guys about my age (33) that have harbored a crush on her for decades, ever since "A Little Romance" in 1979. Any directors or producers out there -- what gives?!?! Keep her working! It's nice that director Tony Goldwyn took notice of her -- I believe he got his own acting start as one of Jason's victims in "Friday the 13th, Part 6," so I imagine he must have a pretty well-developed sympathy gland, for fellow struggling thespians. Anyway, she's beautiful, highly gifted in her ability to communicate with gestures, and an able imitator of accents. I'm not sure what it is about her that makes her so hard to forget, visually -- she has an ability to simultaneously look shrewd and kind. That could be it. Hollywood being what it is, that shrewd look might be what gets her in trouble. She LOOKS very intelligent. Not that there aren't plenty of highly intelligent actresses out there, but intelligence isn't always one of the very first things you think of when you see them. It just doesn't lend itself to playing starry-eyes ingenues. Actually, I remember seeing in a movie once that there are three ages for actresses in Hollywood -- 1.)Babe, 2.)District Attorney, and 3.)Driving Miss Daisy. Diane Lane has one foot in each of the first two of those stages. Let's hope she sees more work. Okay, enough gushing. Liev Shrieber is really terrific too, as the beleaguered husband Marty. I first saw Liev on film as a psychotic cop who gets possessed by a sort of demonic oil slick (yes, I'm serious) in an adaptation of a Dean Koontz book, "Phantoms" -- so, I wasn't expecting much here. I was very pleasantly surprised, however -- the man has range. Marty is a believable, likeable, well-developed character. Let's hope Liev keeps working, too... The supporting cast is solid as well -- Viggo Mortensen is pretty cool as a sort of free-wheeling 60s guy, who looks like a Doobie Brother who took an unfortunate career detour into apparel sales. He has a better role than you might expect -- more complex. He's a human being, not just an excuse for Diane Lane to run hogwild for a few weeks... Anna Paquin is terrific too -- I'm pretty sure she won an Oscar when she was about 10 or 11, so perhaps competence is not so startling coming from her. Anyway, this is just a really nice, mature movie all around. Two thumbs up. Diane Lane is Mesmerizing! Since her debut in 1979, Diane Lane has continued to be an incredibly beautiful and mesmerizing actress. As a BIG fan, I saw this movie just because of Diane Lane but was so blown-away at the performances of Liev Schreiber(husband), Viggo Mortensen("blouse man/lover") and an all-grown-up Anna Paquin who plays a typical rebellious teen. Together the typical Jewish family experiences the angst of every family living in 1969- teen sexuality, for a girl-getting your period, a love affair, and the bond of traditions and true love. For those of us not familiar with the Jewish way of community, it is a very touching and endearing story. Diane Lane continues to be the best kept secret in Hollywood, but, I am sure, she, herself keeps it that way, holding no "STAR" attitude such as other actors making the big bucks. You can always expect a great "walk on the moon" from Diane and this movie doesn't disappoint! This film was entirely UNDER rated with the directing talents of Tony Goldwyn("Ghost") and producing skill of Dustin Hoffman. All in all, a pleasant surprise! Buy A Walk On The Moon at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on A Walk On The Moon Search with the Priority Search Engine on A Walk On The Moon This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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