The Man in the Moon

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Alexis T This movie was buns bro. It was so cringey and the one guy Court was weird for liking Dani. He was entertaining her fan girling over him and he kept wanting to kiss her when she looked so much younger. It was giving brother and sister relationship. He kept making inappropriate comments towards her. It will make her grow up think that is what love is. It was really awkward and they didn’t have any emotional bond. He was kinda acting like he liked her then to sleep with her sister. All the injuries were forced. His death was really stupid and didn’t make sense… It was karma I guess. It was like the script writer based it of a fever dream. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 09/29/25 Full Review Joey H. Released on October 4th, 1991; the Man in the Moon tells a beautiful story about the powerful bonds of family, sisterhood, and young love, all seen through the eyes of two girls and one boy. Directed by Oscar nominee Robert Mulligan, the man behind To Kill a Mockingbird, Clara’s Heart, Summer of ‘42 and other great films, the story takes place in the summer of 1957, in a small country town of Louisiana. The main character is 14 year old Danielle “Dani” Trant, portrayed by future Oscar winning actress Reese Witherspoon in her feature film debut. She lives with her father Matthew; portrayed by Sam Waterston, mother Abigail; portrayed by Tess Harper, older sister Maureen; portrayed by Emily Warfield and baby sister Missy. Maureen is going to be off to college in the fall and is currently going out with a boy named Billy Sanders, played by Bentley Mitchum, although she is not in love with him. Abigail is pregnant with baby number four, which Matthew is hoping will be their first son. Dani and Maureen are very close and usually share everything with each other, but all that is tested when the Foster family moves in down the road and they both wind up laying eyes on the teenage son Court Foster, played by Jason London. At first the story is all about Dani spending time with Court while experiencing her first ever crush and feelings of affection, which eventually results in her having her first ever kiss. But then later when Court meets Maureen, who has just recently ended things with Billy, it’s love at first sight for both of them and Maureen finally finds the love connection she’s always been looking for, which ends up causing a rift between her and Dani, and in turn causes a rift between Dani and Court. But just when things can’t seem to get any worse, tragedy strikes and it ends up affecting both girls in different ways, drawing them further apart before eventually bringing the two of them back together. Late film critic Roger Ebert named this as one of his top ten films of 1991, and I 1000% agree with him. This was to be Robert Mulligan’s final film of his career before his retirement and eventual death in 2008. The story is touching, endearing, heartwarming and also will tug at your heartstrings in all the right places. I give this classic film a solid 10/10. The cast is perfect and the direction is perfect. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/30/25 Full Review Libby W This completely disgusted me. At the beginning of the movie I really thought I may have found a new favorite. Tender, sincere, truly lovely. THENNNN, trauma ensues. Spoiler alert- cheating, pain, DEATH. I feel like my whole mind has been violated by the tragedy of this film. I will never watch it again, and I would never recommend for someone to watch it. I had to take ibuprofen after this to cure my headache and heartache. Don’t do it unless you want plot twists resulting in pain, anger, and sincere confusion. I get enough tragedy and sadness in real life, someone tell me why I want that in my movies too. I hate it. If I could give it negative stars, I would. Thank you, Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/18/25 Full Review Jared H The plot was kinda all over the place, hard to find a common thread. I’m trying to be as generous as possible, thinking there must be some reason why this rated so highly. I guess the main thread is sisterhood? It’s kind of bookended at the beginning and end with two sisters trying to figure life out, and accepting that maybe it can’t be figured out. Although it felt like that theme was sort of just tacked on at the beginning and end. There’s also Dani’s journey throughout the film of not wanting to be seen as a kid (which is honestly valid, because she’s one of the most mature characters in the film). In the opening scene she refers to talking to the Man in the Moon as “kid stuff” but ultimately, again in the final scene, she seems to warm up to the idea of the Man in the Moon, probably implying she’s made peace with her youth. The film is also pretty well acted, especially Reese Witherspoon. The performances felt mostly realistic and relatable. That’s the good stuff, as far as I can tell, but I honestly came away at the end feeling like I’d basically watched a soap opera. The main 3 conflicts are the mother’s tripping accident, the sisters’ love triangle with Court, and Court’s eventual death. The love triangle was really the only conflict that felt natural, and made sense with the story. The other two freak accidents were very forced, and felt like they came out of nowhere. Additionally, the early scenes with Maureen and her boyfriend, Billy felt largely unnecessary to the movie. It didn’t really develop her character at all, other than maybe implying that it lead her to wish for some other man to come along. But it all felt kind of pointless. A lot of the sequences felt unmeaningful. Maybe that’s why I’m left with a bad taste in my mouth. It could be that coming of age just isn’t my thing, but so much of the film just wasn’t compelling, and felt like things happened for no other reason than to be sad. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 05/05/25 Full Review Iván M I really enjoyed this movie. The only reason I'm drawing a star back is because I wasn't satisfied with the ending, and I sort of refuse to believe Dani and Court will not grow up to be together. Additionally, Maureene's greed and malice truly infuriated me, so I guess that's a good indicator that I was immersed in the film's storyline, and that says a lot. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/17/25 Full Review Meredith G Grew up watching this movie. I’ve probably seen it 40-50 times at least. It’s a tear jerker for sure, but so worth it. It’s just a good film about growing up and having your first crush and all the warm feels. I’d definitely recommend. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/27/25 Full Review Read all reviews

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