Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon
After his fiancée is murdered just weeks before their wedding, Joe (Gyllenhaal) continues to live with the dead woman's parents (Hoffman and Sarandon) in a small New England town. The three are united and yet divided by grief until Joe, to his surprise, finds himself falling for a local postal worker (Ellen Pompeo) who turns out to have some unresolved sorrows of her own.
Moonlight Mile is nowhere near as lugubrious as the above description makes it sound. It's sentimental, and the story doesn't always track as clearly as it might, but writer-director Brad Silberling (City of Angels) finds plenty of comedy amidst the tears, and he elicits strong performances from his leads. Sarandon particularly is amusing as a woman who doesn't suffer fools—especially those who come bearing tea and sympathy—gladly. Mile was inspired by Silberling's own romance with Rebecca Schaeffer, the 21-year-old costar of TV's My Sister Sam who was murdered by a stalker in 1989. Silberling, now wed to actress Amy Brenneman, has made a touching film about getting on with life. (PG-13)
Bottom Line: Commendable, but no miracle Mile
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