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This movie is a highly conventional Hollywood drama, complete with carefully placed beauty shots and touchy-feely Mark Isham music. But writer/director Silberling consistently overcomes the cliches of his own picture by finding truly original moments through the subtle glances and gestures of his fine actors, and nice small touches of the world around them.

Jake Gyllenhaal is quietly brilliant, inhabiting the space of his grieving and frustrated character with an assurance and maturity that wasn't guaranteed from his earlier performances--a big step forward for him as an actor. And Susan Sarandon is sharp as hell in her best role in years--Hoffman has the most difficult task, portraying a man who is completely submerged in denial, but he serves the film well and handles the inevitable Big Moments late in the narrative with the class and skill you'd expect.

This movie has some genuinely original points of view about the reality of losing a loved one, and the complexity of human emotion: especially how that complexity is usually at odds with how we're expected to behave in such situations.

There is a tortured romance with Gyllenhaal's character that is cliched to begin with, and nearly altogether bungled by the writing. Unfortunately, this part is central to the story, so you're stuck with scenes that seem like a cross between Adrian Lyne sex-drama and an episode of The Wonder Years. This story string also leads > to an ending that will likely be far too neatly tied for many discerning filmgoers, as it was for me.

But when the movie sticks to the messy yet electric triangle of the dead girl's parents and her fiancee, it's really something. Unless you simply can't abide by a movie that's unapologetic about its mainstream Hollywood nature, excellent performances, consistently interesting touches in the writing, striking photography, and more than a few original ideas make this movie worth a look.

This is a very well acted movie that deals with a sudden loss in a family in a better way than I would expect. The movie avoids the usual clichés and through some very strong performances shows us how it could really be. The dead person is the daughter of Ben (Dustin Hoffman) and Jojo (Susan Sarandon), her fiancé named Joe (Jake Gyllenhaal) is now living with them. The girl was murdered, simply because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now Ben and Joe go into business together and the all try to live on in their own ways. Joe befriends a girl named Bertie Knox (Ellen Pompeo) who also has lost someone.

Like I said the subject is handled in a very good way. May be the movie makes some easy choices, especially near the end, but the acting is so good and real here that the movie is easily forgiven. Gyllenhaal plays the same kind of part as he did in 'Donnie Darko' and 'The Good Girl', not the most happy one. He has the best single scene, although overall veterans Hoffman and Sarandon are as good as he is. The best thing though is Ellen Pompeo. Her character has a certain sweetness and nice way of dealing with things and Pompeo finds the perfect note for playing this part. See it for the acting and you will find a lot more.

When I first started watching this movie I was a bit confused. I had expected some drama and romance, but instead it looked like a comedy! But when I kept watching, I realised I was wrong, although I have to admit that the first half an hour is rather comedy than drama.

Anyway, "Moonlight Mile" is highly enjoyable. What exactly makes this movie so great? It's the acting. The cast is outstanding. Susan Sarandon and Dustin Hoffman are truly amazing as always. Jake Gyllenhaal, who we know from "Donnie Darko", was excellent as well. But, like I already said, Hoffman and Sarandon are the true stars in this one. They were both so funny from time to time! "Moonlight Mile" is definitely worth watching! A true indie with great performances!

8/10

I would give it a 7.5 out of 10.

There is so much not to like about this movie - Susan Sarandon overdoes the cool mom bit, they use each others' names all the time, Dustin Hoffman shuffles about like Rainman in several scenes, the love story is rather improbable, the ending too perfectly happy happy, Jake tends to have one expression through the whole movie and you don't realise it is in the 70's until they start talking about Vietnam. It also bothered me for some reason that Jake wore the same pants throughout.

BUT I loved it loved it loved it. It is funny, sad, happy and has so many great actors in it (plus animals). The soundtrack is fantastic. Jake has the funny scene at the table and the serious scene in court - must have been a dream role to play. Jake has really been good about varying his roles which must be hard when you fit the stereotypical young hunk role. I think the dancing scene and the love scene are absolutely beautiful and show affection and the need for affection more than sex which is rare - the music is perfectly matched to both these scenes. I am glad they chose a plainer, quirkier leading lady - Ellen Pompeo does it amazingly well (though watching her in Grey's she always seems to play the same character). She is 11 years older than Jake though and he seemed like a teenager in the movie so I was confused as to whether she was supposed to be so much older in the movie.

It is not the best movie I have ever seen but it was way way better than I thought it would be and I was surprised that it sank without a trace at the time.

*** out of ****

While not quite a great movie (it just barely misses the mark), Moonlight Mile is still an excellent drama that showcases some of the finest acting talent around, wrapped amidst a beautifully told story of a young man (Jake Gyllenhaal) who's trying to do what everyone expects out of him, but against the desire of following his own heart.

Moonlight Mile plays as a cathartic experience. The premise bears truth to it, as it parallels writer/director Brad Siberling's own real-life experience when his girlfriend was murdered by an obsessive fan. But most importantly, almost every part of this movie feels natural in its emotions and storytelling, not the result of some sentimental hackjob put together by a big studio. Siberling's intent is to portray a normal family dealing with life, loss, and love and whatever obstacles may come their way and he does a fine job of it.

There are moments Moonlight Mile doesn't entirely ring true, but those moments are glossed over by the acting. From Gyllenhaal to Ellen Pompeo to Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon, the cast is uniformly superb. Even though the climax is set in a courtroom (typically the setting for cliche hell in dramas), Gyllenhaal's emotional outpour makes the scene work almost magnificently.

An admittedly very irksome element of the film is the score, which is yet again another rip-off of the music to American Beauty. Moonlight Mile's straightforward, honest approach doesn't match the quirky tone of the score, resulting in a few off-kilter moments of balance. But otherwise, this is a first-rate, truthful drama, and certainly superior to the overrated and similary themed In the Bedroom.