The Man in the Moon

For other uses, see Man in the Moon (disambiguation).

The Man in the Moon
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Robert Mulligan
Produced by	Mark Rydell
Written by	Jenny Wingfield
Starring	Reese Witherspoon Jason London Sam Waterston Tess Harper Gail Strickland Emily Warfield
Music by	James Newton Howard
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	October 4, 1991
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Man in the Moon is a 1991 American drama film, directed by Robert Mulligan (his last film) and starring Sam Waterston, Reese Witherspoon (her film debut) and Jason London. The original screenplay was by Jenny Wingfield.

Plot summary

In the summer of 1957, Dani Trant (Reese Witherspoon) is a 14-year-old girl who, according to her father, is "too big to be running off by herself." Dani and her older sister Maureen (Emily Warfield), who is going off to college in the fall, are very close. Maureen helps take care of their younger sister, Missy, while their mother Abigail (Tess Harper) is pregnant. Dani however prefers to run off into the neighbor's pond to go swimming in the nude. It is here that she meets her new neighbor, seventeen-year-old Court Foster (Jason London). Court kicks Dani out of his pond. When Dani goes home, her mother tells her to wash up because an old friend is coming for dinner with her children. The Trants' old friend turns out to be a widow, Mrs. Foster (Gail Strickland) with her three sons Court, Dennis, and Rob. When Dani realizes who Court is, the two dislike each other. Court calls Dani "a little girl". When Dani's father Matthew (Sam Waterston) tells Dani to accompany Court into town for groceries, Dani and Court drive into town and start to get along. Dani finally realizes that she is in love with Court.

Maureen goes on a date to a dance with her boyfriend Billy Sanders (Bentley Mitchum). When they leave the dance, Billy wants to park his car and have sex. Maureen gets angry and breaks up with Billy because she believes "love should be beautiful". The next day, Dani asks Maureen for advice on how to kiss a boy. Maureen demonstrates by practicing on her hand. Dani and Court continue to go swimming during the hot sunny days and become very close friends. The two agree to meet to go swimming at night, since Court has too much work to do during the day. Dani sneaks off and swims with Court until they reach the point where they are about to kiss. Court pushes Dani away and says she is a little girl that doesn't know what she's doing, and runs off home. Dani leaves too just as a thunderstorm is breaking out. Abigail wakes up, knowing Dani isn't in the home, and runs outside looking for her. Just as Dani gets home, and runs to her mother, her mother also runs and trips on a root, landing on her stomach. Dani's father races her to the hospital, where she is kept for treatment. When her father returns home from the hospital, he beats Dani with his belt. The next day, Court brings food to the Trant house and apologizes to Dani for the other night. Dani, still hurt, just ignores him at first, until Court says he would still like to be friends. The next time they go swimming the two share their first kiss.

Once Dani has made up with her father, he tells Dani to invite Court over once in a while so he can get to know him better. When Court comes over for dinner, he finally meets Maureen. Dani can tell it is love at first sight for the two of them. While Dani visits her mother in the hospital, Court comes over to the Trant house and kisses Maureen. Over the next few days, Dani is getting pushed away by Court. While the rest of the family goes to pick up Abigail, and the new baby, from the hospital, Court and Maureen claim their love for each other, consummating their love in a field. When Maureen leaves for home, Court goes back to plowing the fields and falls off the machine, and is badly injured. Dani sees this, and races home to tell her father. When Matthew returns home, he has some of Court's blood on his clothes and the family realizes that Court has died. Maureen hides her pain at first, while Dani bursts into tears. After Court's funeral, Dani continues to be angry at Maureen for being with Court. Matthew tells Dani that although she has a right to be hurt, being mad won't bring Court back, and Maureen will be her sister for life. Dani comforts Maureen, and the film ends with Maureen and Dani talking outside on the porch at night, becoming close again.

Reception

The film was praised by Roger Ebert, who included it at #8 in his Top 10 list of the best films of 1991, declaring, "Nothing else [Mulligan] has done... approaches the purity and perfection of The Man in the Moon. As the film approached its conclusion without having stepped wrong once, I wondered whether he could do it - whether he could maintain the poetic, bittersweet tone, and avoid the sentimentalism and cheap emotion that could have destroyed this story. Would he maintain the integrity of this material? He would, and he does."

Mulligan became disenchanted with how the film was edited and cut by airlines, particularly American and Delta Airlines, for in-flight showings. He became so disturbed by these airline edits to the picture that he insisted his name be removed from the credits of the film. These events artistically haunted Mulligan to such a degree that he retired from film-making and never directed another project.

Cast

Actor	Role
Sam Waterston	Matthew Trant
Tess Harper	Abigail Trant
Gail Strickland	Marie Foster
Reese Witherspoon	Dani Trant
Jason London	Court Foster
Emily Warfield	Maureen Trant
Bentley Mitchum	Billy Sanders
Ernie Lively	Will Sanders
Dennis Letts	Doc White
Earleen Bergeron	Eileen Sanders
Anna Chappell	Mrs. Taylor
Brandi Smith	Missy Trant
Derek Ball	Foster Twin
Spencer Ball	Foster Twin
Patrick Hallisy	Jude Davinc

See also

• Man in the Moon

External links

• The Man in the Moon at the Internet Movie Database
• The Man in the Moon at AllRovi
• The Man in the Moon at Rotten Tomatoes
• Roger Ebert's four-star review of the film