Moonlight and Valentino

I'm not one to usually admit I was teared up during a movie but this movie got me at least three times. That alone should give it a 7 rating but I added one more. I guess I really understood Lucy in the movie since those are the type of women I would date. Once you get to know them all, all 4 that is, you can really understand this complex relationship. I will not go into too many details but this is a must watch movie and not a perfect 10 but pretty darn good. I cannot believe that this has under a 6 rating not true at all. So i have to add a few more lines. OK then vote for this movie with your heart not from a spectacularly sensational Hollywood standpoint.

You have to be in the right mood for this movie. Fortunately the night I watched it I was in the right mood. I enjoyed this movie. It wasn't brilliant but it wasn't awful. The plot was believable. Husband dies tragically, wife bottles up feeling, friends help her through tough times, she helps friends through tough times, her feelings finally come out etc etc. Sounds like a bad soap but is actually quite good.

The best bit of the movie for me was Elizabeth Perkins. For years I have suspected she could act quite well but previous parts haven't given her the chance to show it. This movie did! Elizabeth Perkins did a superb job of pulling off the part of the wife struggling to come to terms with her husbands death. The scene near the end of the movie where she finally broke down was a piece of brilliance on her behalf. Surrounded by three other popular actresses she shines through!

I'm glad I watched it! 7/10.

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!

Moonlight and Valentino is a truthful drama about mourning. Elizabeth Perkin's character is well written and well acted. You really feel as if she has lost her husband. She goes through all of the natural emotions of sadness, denial, and guilt. Whoopi's character is annoyingly written, but she adds a human spark to Sylvia. Gwyneth's character is the epitome of an insecure college girl. She is written as if from experience. Kathleen Turner's character is easy to hate in a pitied sort of way. All in all the movie is well written and truthfully told. You are left feeling that even if you do lose the one you love, life will go on.

"Moonlight..." is a slightly massaged and sanitized but insightful and warm look at a woman (Perkins) coping with grief with help from a distaff trio of family/friends. A beautifully crafted piece of work at all levels, this dialogue-intensive film spares us much of the usual mourning melodrama and gets right into the healing process with humor, charm, and sensitivity while exploring the principal's relationships and not lingering too long on the central grief issue. Overall, an entertaining piece which, IMHO, was scored too low by IMDB.com users because of the male side of the jury. Recommended for more mature audiences... and Ebert, wake up and smell the roses.