Moonlight Serenade

I was in the mood to watch something with Amy Adams in it and came across 'Moonlight Serenade'. A film about music and with Adams singing, what's not to look forward to? I thought it would be a pleasant break from the overload of action, thriller and toilet humour comedies scattering theatres these days.

However, 'Moonlight Serenade' could have easily been a stronger movie. The story is very simplistic and has been witnessed before as it's very much the typical musician story. The execution is a big let down. It has a TV movie feel to it. The cinematography is flat and the pace is quite slow. The atmosphere in the film feels dull too.

I liked how the songs were placed smoothly into the situations like part of the story.

Alec Newman, Amy Adams and Harriet Sansom Harris perform excellently. It's good to finally see Harris in a movie with a substantial role for her and she sings very well too. Even though I personally didn't like all the songs, Newman and Adams sing beautifully. So what 'Moonlight Serenade' has working for it are the performances.

I love Amy Adams, I love to hear her sing. Scott Anderson also has a good voice...but...OMG, he can't act. I just didn't believe anything about his character. He was as stiff as a board, even when he was singing. He needs to take a clue from great actors, and show some emotion on his face.

I did enjoy the supporting actress; she's been in a lot of other movies, but I never knew she could sing. A really nice song and the director put in some very nice cut-aways during her song.

I just don't think Amy Adams can do a bad movie. I just love watching her in everything she does.

I confess I found this film irresistible. It's primarily a vehicle for a terrific score, consisting almost entirely of the superb performances and arrangements of Joey DeFrancesco (Frank D). What a pleasant showcase for classics from sorely missed show tunes and jazz of the 40's and 50's, all capably rendered by Amy Adams and Scott G. Anderson. DeFrancesco, incidentally, not only plays the Hammond B, but also piano and trumpet in the movie score (though his Frank D is seen performing only on the Hammond B in the film itself). The film seems to have been somewhat inspired by Steve Koves' Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), though it's not up to the outstanding production values of that film, or the first-rate performances of Jeff and Beau Bridges and (especially) Michelle Pfeiffer, who received an Academy Award nomination. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed Moonlight Serenade for ALL the reasons that others who posted here have already pointed out. It was great to hear these wonderful, time-tested classical popular and jazz compositions again. I own the film and would love to find the sound track, but no luck so far.

I am a huge Amy Adams fan and have been for many years. I am also a big fan of musicals. With that said this is not a good movie on any level. It is quite dull and the acting overall is very very poor. Amy Adams is awkward to watch act with Scott G. Anderson due to the fact that she is in another league when it comes to acting. All the performances come off as very amateur. The music performances are pleasant, but nothing special.

Scott G. Anderson is just an bad actor! I assumed he was put in this movie because he has a great voice, but it's just not the case. He has an average voice and sings on key, but that's about it.

I guess I can see why Amy Adams did this movie with the singing element I just wish she had not. I could rant about other poor elements of this movie, but I'll leave it at that.

Since being a big fan of Amy Adams I just watched this one without knowing anything about it and was pleasantly surprised. I normally don't like movies with this kind of musical theme. I like that they keep the script simple and realistic and most characters felt genuinely real.

A different approach was also the use of the songs in the film. They weren't set up like individual numbers like in most musicals, instead they came on and of without warning and in a somewhat repetitive way but it really gave another depth to the mood of the film.

The only thing seem a little lowbudget was the camera-work (mostly tripod shots) and the office sets who were very studio looking in a bad way.

Finally Amy Adams shines like always and really show how versatile she is as an actress being able to play both drama and comedy.