Moonlight Mile
May 2003 Reviewed by: Josh Barber Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Writers and directors who make films from semi-autobiographical material walk a fine line. Too close to reality and the film is labeled a self-serving paean to their own talent. Too far from the truth and the importance can get lost. Cameron Crowe did an admirable job with his well-received Almost Famous. In Project Greenlight, Pete Jones struggled to keep Stolen Summer from turning into a glorified Afterschool Special, and now Brad Silberling has taken us down Moonlight Mile.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays young Joe Nast. When his fiancé suddenly dies, he finds himself struggling to be the person everyone expects him to be. Living with Ben (Dustin Hoffman) and JoJo (Susan Sarandon), his in-laws-to-be, Joe goes about his life as if nothing had changed. But how true is that life? Can it stand up to scrutiny?

That Moonlight Mile manages to ring true is due in no small part to a confluence of successes. Silberling's script, drawing on his own experiences, wonderfully captures the words, emotions, and actions of grieving. All four of the major cast members turn in excellent performances, especially Gyllenhaal as the nearly mute Joe. Finally, several tiny towns in Massachusetts used as shooting locations help recapture the look of America in the early '70s with a minimum of set dressing. The world of the film seems real because it is real, with real people feeling real things in a real place.

Moonlight Mile was overlooked at the box office but now has a chance to build a following with a home-video audience. The technicians at Touchstone have produced a fine, workman-like disc. The sound is decent, if not spectacular. Since there is nothing but dialogue with which to contend, the speakers never really get a frequency-range workout. The color and clarity of the picture are brilliant, though blacks are sometimes overwhelming.

The extras are average. We get two commentaries. The first is a solo effort by Silberling alone, while the second has the director sitting down with a sincerely inquisitive Dustin Hoffman and generally cheery Jake Gyllenhaal. Both sessions provide good insight into the filmmaking process. Kudos to Silberling for never trying to capitalize on the infamy of the girl who inspired his tale.

A selection of ten deleted scenes, with optional commentary from the director, give a glimpse of just how bogged down this film could have become without skillful editing. The 20-minute "Moonlight Mile: A Journey to Screen" documentary, which is informative if not enchanting, rounds out the special-features section.

Moonlight Mile is a film that really polarized critics. It deals with grief in a way not usually seen in popular culture, and I suppose that can be off-putting. The film made its way in and out of theaters without ever really registering on the public consciousness. I had not even heard of it before picking up this disc, but it is now receiving a well-deserved second chance thanks to this DVD release.

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