Good movie but grossly overrated

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Director Robert Mulligan's final film, "The Man in the Moon" stars Reese Witherspoon as Dani Trant, a fourteen year old girl living in 1950s Louisiana. Stuck in a familiar coming-of-age plot, Dani spends one summer learning about love, life and loss. Fittingly for Mulligan's swansong, the film opens and closes with Dani and her sister gazing up at the night sky, pondering issues of fate, faith and mortality. "Maybe life's not supposed to make sense," they decide.Bouyed by a delightful Reese Witherspoon, "The Man in the Moon" boasts a number of fine moments. Unfortunately the film relies heavily on several ridiculously over-the-top sequences (a kid is mauled by a tractor, a woman suffers a miscarriage after falling on her stomach etc), Mulligan resorting to shock-tactics which clash awkwardly with what is otherwise a pleasantly low-key film. Co-starring Emily Warfield and Jason London.7.5/10 – See "The Wackness" and "Spirit of the Beehive".

For its first 80 minutes, "The Man in the Moon" plays as a handsome, simply woven tale of family life in rural Louisiana, seen primarily through the eyes of two sisters. For its last 25 minutes, it plays out a pointless consequence of manufactured conflict that takes a potentially great film and disappointingly dispatches it as little more than one-off melodrama and an unsatisfying resolution.Along with Tess Harper as matriarch Abigail, Sam Waterston shows his under-appreciated versatility as Matthew Trant, the stern, hard-working father of Dani, played with extraordinary aplomb by then-newcomer Reese Witherspoon, and her older sister Maureen, played by Emily Warfield. Maureen is looking toward college, while Dani tries hard to convince the world she isn't still a kid at the ripe age of 14. The conflict ensues when the recently widowed friend of Trant's moves into the adjacent farm along with her 17-year-old son, Cort, who catches Dani's eye as her first youthful love. On the one hand, "Moon" draws a nicely articulated tale of 50's era family life, yet interrupts the tale with manufactured interruptions of tragic shadow that seem only to serve the purpose of...interrupting the tale and force the drama, as if the writers don't truly trust the material they've developed. Individually, the performances are authentic and on the mark, even if the story often isn't. Despite the story flaws, "Man in the Moon" is a good work. It's just so frustrating to realize that a truly great work was but a stone's throw away.

One of the Best Movies Made I love it watch it over and over again. "I've Read Most of your Reviews On Dani, Maureen and Court Triangle I will say some of it was wrong some felt rite and left two sisters Bruised . When I first watched this movie I always said at the end I would love to have saw them come back as women and well what you've all said here n see a what goes around comes around erupt. I loved this movie It would have been nice to have saw a part two to see them grown up and to come back n see the twin brothers look like court a nice reprise or just to see if Dani and Maureen worked it out. I was not ready for the movie to be done at the end I wanted more is why this movie gets ten stars for me it was heartbreaking, fun ,joyful, tender and Memorable..

A nice little gem. Every word of it. It is a small picture and it was nice. There ! Idyllic country scene and superb cinematography makes this movie very watchable. It is amazing that Witherspoon probably did her finest dramatic work the first time out. From the first look on, Witherspoon's Danny was absorbing and real. You could understand her. Perhaps you have a niece that went through similar experience, perhaps you were her in your adolescent years. Fine example of art imitating life. Jason London, the subject of her adolescent love, was also excellent in his role. Sam Waterston as the father in rural town showed perfect nuance of characters in that era. The only miscast was Tess Harper,who was wooden. It might not be her fault as there were hardly any lines written for her role even though it was a woman's screenplay. Overall very touching and we got the resolution we expect in the end.