Mojave Moon

I caught "Mojave Moon" several times on cable but I didn't care about it. I even came to IMDb back in the late 90's and nobody commented about it. It was somehow a rare, obscure independent movie that gained notoriety when Jolie received her first (and only) Oscar. I caught it on a so called art channel.

To be honest, it wasn't until Angelina Jolie made her on-screen appearance with the shortest mini skirt I've ever seen on movies! That girl was stunning.

Then I got hooked in by the plot although it is very strange.

The movie has the typical situations involving a trouble girl that gets everyone in problems and ends up making everybody fool.

To be honest, if it wasn't for Jolie's sexyiness this movie would be still hidden.

"Mojave Moon" is a film fueled on the magic of a full moonlit night. It has a distinct, memorable and charming presence. I love this very feel of the film, but unfortunately it wares off as the movie tries to reinvent itself at the end. It shifts into a different mood, from a sweet romance into a wacky, cartoonish comedy.

Danny Aiello is a genuine actor, and his best work is in his little indie films like this. He plays a used carsalesman named Al, who is lost in a routine life. One day a beautiful free spirit (Angelina Jolie) serves as an outlet as he follows her into the Mojave Desert for a mysterious adventure.

The premise is almost identical to "Box of Moon Light", a far better film. Both films are about a person serving as a way out of the deadly foe of time. If only "Mojave Moon" centered itself more on the wonderful magic of the journey and the life-changing outcomes like "BOM", instead of becoming untrue to itself. (Ironically both main characters are named Al).

It would be easy to dismiss this as just another bad film. Actually, it is a bad film but it's redeemed by a couple of strong elements, most notably the appearance of Angelina Jolie and Danny Aiello. This is one of Jolie's earlier films, coming after Hackers but before her breakout performance in Gia, and you can really see her coming into her own as a star. A star is someone you can't take your eyes off of when they're on screen - Jolie is beautiful and sexy as hell but beyond that, even at this early stage, she's got a certain indescribable something that makes it hard to take your eyes off of her.

Aiello, of course, is great at playing the kind of lovable schmuck he plays in this film. The loser with a heart of gold. In this film he's 50, just gone through a nasty divorce and trying to figure out life in LA. Unlike some of the other posts up here I could totally see him going out to the desert and getting mixed up with some of the crazy characters there. He's got an empty life and he's looking for something - anything - to give him a reason to keep going.

Ann Archer has been better in other things, but she's rarely been made to look more beautiful than this.

On top of all that, it's a great looking film that uses some really cool LA locations. Much of it was shot in Johnnies, a googie style diner on Wilshire Boulevard that Tarantino has used. Other locations include a cool 50's era motel (anyone know where this was?) and of course, the great California desert.

So overall I wouldn't say this is a great film, but it's worth watching.

This is not at all the sort of film I am usually attracted to. The only other film in my experience that I could compare it to would be Tarentino's "Pulp Fiction". It's not as slick, but there is less blood... It was only on the second viewing that I was able to start to appreciate it and not until the shootout at the petrol station that I saw that the film is in fact a comedy on the black side. I think this should have been made apparent earlier in the film to give it a more uniform identity. The desert atmosphere is always attractive and explains the film's rather surrealistic feel.

For me the film is original and entertaining and the performances are excellent.

Released in 1996, "Mojave Moon" is a black comedy/thriller about an average man in his 50s (Danny Aiello) who is so intrigued by a young woman (Angelina Jolie) that he agrees to drive her to her mom's place in the desert. He then becomes infatuated with the blissful and clueless mother (Anne Archer), but her loony boyfriend looms near (Michael Biehn).

"Mojave Moon" has that quirky, hip flare of movies of the mid-to-late 90s, like "Pulp Fiction", "Michael", "The Way of the Gun" and "American Psycho". If you have a taste for these types of films you might like "Mojave Moon."

Those who want to catch a good glimpse of Angelina Jolie early in her career will also be interested. She was only 20 during filming, but brimming with confidence and allure. She has quite a few scenes where she's not wearing much, including a shower scene that shows her top-nude. I can understand why some might get worked-up about her, but she doesn't trip my trigger. Don't get me wrong, she has an exotically gorgeous face with full lips, but the rest of her is just too slinky for my tastes. But if you find her appealing that's wonderful.

BOTTOM LINE: "Mojave Moon" is mildly entertaining as a bizarre black comedy/thriller. I had a few good laughs, but it struck me as curious more than anything else, with characters who don't ring true and do unbelievable things. Take, for instance, the gas station attendant who foolishly engages in a gunfight right out in the open or the ensuing gunfight where no one hits anyone even though they're all fairly close. The film's full of these "yeah, right" moments. Still, it's not bad. It tries to be different.

The film runs 95 minutes and was shot in Palmdale, CA.

GRADE: C+