Moonlight and Valentino

source: Moonlight and Valentino

This movie just cannot decide what genre it wants to be....and is unsuccessful as any of them, particularly comedy or drama. The story begins with a sudden death and the efforts of the widow's friends to console her. Following this is a long line of inane, mostly pointless interactions with no clear plot, and a lot of what we would probably all consider as socially inappropriate dialogue and behavior. The scene in the cemetery put me over the top in thinking the script was totally to blame for creating a cinematic disaster. It is a total flop as an upmarket film, lacking depth, lacking believability about the roles the characters are in, and the cherry on top is a weird appearance/role by Bob Jovi. Did someone really spend millions on this thinking it was artful? OMG

I admit, the main reason that made me wanna watch this movie was Jon Bon Jovi's part in it. Being a huge fan of his, I try to see all of his movies thus I watched Moonlight & Valentino as well. And not just once but four times. The way I see it, the cast did a great job, but the script could have been turned into a better film, had a less flat ending been made, if you know what I mean. I think it's a soft, sweet movie but in a way it's rather dull, or at least ordinary. What I'm trying to say is, with this cast and story, a more effective and more impressive movie could have been made. But maybe that's just me. Other than that, the songs in the movie were real, good. And, on a side note, the part where the ladies think that the painter doesn't speak English but then he surprises them about it is hilarious in my opinion.

I just got finished watching this movie last night. I had always wanted to see it and so when it unexpectedly came on tv last night, I decided to watch it. Well...I have mixed feelings about this movie. ****************NOTE!! SPOILERS!!!!************************* I thought the acting overall was good...I was a bit dissapointed however in Perkin's character, and how emotionless she was after he husband died. I know that part of this was because she was partly shocked and in denial, but still....I expected a STRONGER outburst of emotion from her. This is your HUSBAND that has just died for goodness sakes! Not only that, but I felt like this movie tended to go on and on with not real point. IT felt very boring at times, and just plotless. I liked how the movie focuses on each of the women's lives and the problems they are facing in them, however if I were the director, I would have had the movie continue on with a slightly FASTER pace. The movie felt like 2 hours long when I had only watched an hour of it! Bottom line: I didn't even finish this movie because it was just sooo slow and kind of boring. I was already tired to begin with...I didn't need this movie to put me even faster to sleep. However, if you want a good chick flick about women overcoming thier problems in life, then this movie is for you. The acting is great (except that little part I mentioned above) and the it's a touching story about enduring hardships, and moving on with your life after a tragic death.

The movie is showing that in only one split of a second your whole life can change. I was very suprised by the acting of Jon Bon. I thought he was gonna suck but he is a very good actor at least better then... let say And Paltrows acting is much better then now that she has that golden boy, I think his name is .........Oscar???

I am only 21, but i watched this movie a LONG time ago with my mom & never really appreciated it...I thought it was awful, but now that I have lost someone (a boyfriend) and have had to learn to lean on other people I really appreciate it and know that it really is a great movie!!! To me it seemed kind of surreal when i was younger that anyone could be like that... but the speech at the end when she tells Ben bye...now that i have watched it again makes me tear up now just thinking about it. Its hard to look back and have regrets and i get it now. I loved this movie and i'm thinking about buying it...helps you deal a little bit

I saw this film shortly before watching In Her Shoes with Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz. There are a lot of similarities between the two films. They both have great casts and good acting. They both have stock characters of sisters who are very different, an offensive stepmother, a woman friend/confidant, an emotionally unavailable father, a dead mother and a surprise lover. Both films have the characters experience life-changing realizations and both films suffer from a kind of 'love conquers all' sentimentality. They both add a little titillation with Cameron Diaz in black underwear and a partial back shot of Gwyneth Paltrow naked. Both films seem contrived, as if the writers of the works the films are based on did market research and said, "Ok, there's a market for stories about relationships between women, so I'm going to write about two sisters with an offensive stepmother…" In other words, instead of the drama emerging from the truth of the relationship, the relationship is invented to fit the dramatic situation. It seems forced, the characters don't seem real, the relationships are unbelievable. The resolution of the tensions between the characters is simplistic with simple apologies completely whisking away years of acrimony leaving everyone feeling warm and fuzzy ever after. It's just not real. Romantic fantasy. The characters in In Her Shoes are a little more overblown than Moonlight & Valentino, especially the stepmother part. Sydelle Feller, in In Her Shoes is so evil that it is difficult to believe that the father would stay with her, or even marry her in the first place. Kathleen Turner at least shows some emotional vulnerability as the stepmother in Moonlight & Valentino. If you liked Moonlight & Valentino you will probably like In Her Shoes as well. Enjoyable performances in both, in fact, the actors bring depth to their parts that goes way beyond the contrived sentimentality of the scripts.

A Young English professor (Elizabeth Perkins) loses her husband while an anxiety ridden best friend (Whoopi Goldberg), a quirky younger sister (Gwenyth Paltrow), and an attached ex-stepmother (Kathleen Turner) help her come to terms with life and love. First lead role I've seen Perkins take charge, Gwenyth in a new light a role that made me love her even more, Goldberg in the same light as Boys on The Side (1996), and Kathleen Turner pulls off a successful business mother vying for the affection of a daughter that doesn't belong to her, a beautiful thing. Joining the cast are a few of films sexiest men Jeremy Sisto and Jon Bon Jovi. Definitely worth the watch!

The movie does not leave you with anything, and it seems as though it wanted to. Gwyneth is annoying as usual; her character is to blame too. Whoopi is vivid and charming. Kathleen's character is interesting and real. It sounds like a list, and the movie also does. As Elizabeth Perkins character, it is too neat and structured. The movie's name Moonlight and Valentino makes you expect Bon Jovi to come and effect something, but all he does -after much too long in the film- is steer Elizabeth to a scene that may have worked in the play the movie is based on, but I'm not so sure. All in all: uneven. Most of the time I wanted to see these characters in different situations, perhaps doing something or saying anything. The small storylines are interesting than Elizabeth dealing with the death of her husband: Whoopi and her husband (uncredited Peter Coyote), and Gwyneth and Kathleen. Liked hearing REM's Strange Currencies at the background, and Canda's beautiful.

You know you're watching an awful Movie when After it's over you say to yourself, "Wow, and the best part of that was Jon Bon Jovi's performance!" Even though i had snuck into the cinema(something me and my mates did a lot in the mid 90's), I still felt like demanding my money back afterwards! i knew i wasn't enjoying the movie when i started to long for the thespian skills of Pauly Shore. I remember going to see this movie like it was yesterday and the bad taste still clings to the back of my throat like the memory of a romance that went sour.