• Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop Rated MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
      What's on TV & StreamingTop Rated ShowsMost Popular ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
      What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb TVIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
      OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersGolden GlobesEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
      Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
      Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
    For Industry Professionals
      AllTitlesTV EpisodesCelebsCompaniesKeywords
    • Advanced Search
    Watchlist
    Sign In

    Moonlight Mile

    • 20022002
    • PG-13PG-13
    • 1h 57min
    IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    14K
    YOUR RATING
    • Cast & crew
    • User reviews
    • Trivia
    • IMDbPro
    Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, and Jake Gyllenhaal in Moonlight Mile (2002)
    DramaRomance

    As he copes with the death of his fiancée, a young man befriends her parents and must figure out what he wants out of life.As he copes with the death of his fiancée, a young man befriends her parents and must figure out what he wants out of life.As he copes with the death of his fiancée, a young man befriends her parents and must figure out what he wants out of life.

    IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    14K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Brad Silberling
    • Writer
      • Brad Silberling
    • Stars
      • Jake Gyllenhaal
      • Dustin Hoffman
      • Susan Sarandon
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Brad Silberling
    • Writer
      • Brad Silberling
    • Stars
      • Jake Gyllenhaal
      • Dustin Hoffman
      • Susan Sarandon
    • See more at IMDbPro
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 149User reviews
    • 96Critic reviews
    • 59Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 6 nominations

    Photos96

    Jake Gyllenhaal and Ellen Pompeo in Moonlight Mile (2002)
    Ellen Pompeo in Moonlight Mile (2002)
    Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon in Moonlight Mile (2002)
    Jake Gyllenhaal and Ellen Pompeo in Moonlight Mile (2002)
    Susan Sarandon and Jake Gyllenhaal in Moonlight Mile (2002)
    Dustin Hoffman and Jake Gyllenhaal in Moonlight Mile (2002)
    Jake Gyllenhaal and Ellen Pompeo in Moonlight Mile (2002)
    Dustin Hoffman and Jake Gyllenhaal in Moonlight Mile (2002)
    Jake Gyllenhaal in Moonlight Mile (2002)
    Holly Hunter and Jake Gyllenhaal in Moonlight Mile (2002)
    Jake Gyllenhaal in Moonlight Mile (2002)
    Dustin Hoffman in Moonlight Mile (2002)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jake Gyllenhaal
    Jake Gyllenhaal
    • Joe Nastas Joe Nast
    Dustin Hoffman
    Dustin Hoffman
    • Ben Flossas Ben Floss
    Susan Sarandon
    Susan Sarandon
    • Jojo Flossas Jojo Floss
    Alexia Landeau
    Alexia Landeau
    • Cherylas Cheryl
    Richard Messing
    • Rabbias Rabbi
    Lev Friedman
    • Cantoras Cantor
    Bob Clendenin
    Bob Clendenin
    • Server #1as Server #1
    • (as Robert Clendenin)
    Jim Fyfe
    Jim Fyfe
    • Server #2as Server #2
    Mary Ellen Trainor
    Mary Ellen Trainor
    • Mrs. Meyersonas Mrs. Meyerson
    Richard Fancy
    Richard Fancy
    • Mr. Meyersonas Mr. Meyerson
    Marcia Mitzman Gaven
    Marcia Mitzman Gaven
    • Fashion Plateas Fashion Plate
    Allan Corduner
    Allan Corduner
    • Stan Michaelsas Stan Michaels
    Holly Hunter
    Holly Hunter
    • Mona Campas Mona Camp
    Careena Melia
    • Diana Flossas Diana Floss
    Gary Hetzler
    • Speedwalkeras Speedwalker
    Ellen Pompeo
    Ellen Pompeo
    • Bertie Knoxas Bertie Knox
    Edward Lachman
    Edward Lachman
    • Photographeras Photographer
    • (as Ed Lachman)
    Gordon Clapp
    Gordon Clapp
    • Tanneras Tanner
    • Director
      • Brad Silberling
    • Writer
      • Brad Silberling
    • All cast & crew
    See production, box office, & company info

    More like this

    Highway
    6.2
    Highway
    Proof
    6.7
    Proof
    The Good Girl
    6.4
    The Good Girl
    Rendition
    6.8
    Rendition
    The Shoes: Time to Dance
    7.9
    The Shoes: Time to Dance
    Bubble Boy
    5.6
    Bubble Boy
    Accidental Love
    4.1
    Accidental Love
    Between the Towers
    6.8
    Between the Towers
    Wildlife
    6.8
    Wildlife
    The Slaughter Rule
    6.0
    The Slaughter Rule
    A Dangerous Woman
    5.8
    A Dangerous Woman
    Brothers
    7.1
    Brothers

    Storyline

    Edit
    A young man lingers in the family home of his fiancee, after her accidental death. While grieving along with her parents and drawn into legal issues presented by a district attorney seeking justice for the family, he finds himself falling in love with another woman, against his own best intentions. —Eileen Peterson, unit publicist
    watching tvscene of the crimefianceedeathdistrict attorney121 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • In life and love, expect the unexpected.
    • Genres
      • Drama
      • Romance
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated PG-13 for some sensuality and brief strong language
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Loosely inspired by writer and director Brad Silberling's own experience. He was dating Rebecca Schaeffer at the time she was killed by an obsessed fan in 1989.
    • Goofs
      The jukebox in the bar could not have played "Moonlight Mile" by The Rolling Stones. That song was never released on a single.
    • Quotes

      Joe Nast: I'm sorry, I can't, I can't do this. It didn't happen. We loved each other, we broke it off. If I don't-Jesus, if I don't say this now, it'll never-she'll never be a part of this. What are we-what are we doing here? I don't even-I don't even know this guy. She-she didn't even know this guy. What's he got to do with her? I don't-look, you asked me to bring her in the room, and she's not here-she's not. And whatever happens here, whatever happens to this guy, she's not here. And the only way that you're gonna bring her in here is with the truth. I don't know-I don't know what else to say. You just tell me what to say, and I swear, I'll try, but if you want her, you got to keep it honest. You have to understand that Diana had this thing, this way of bringing out the real in people, not just the best, you know-their honesty. And I guess she's doing it again now cause there's no way I'd be sitting here saying these things I can't believe are coming out of my mouth. It was Diana who finally had the courage. *She* was the one who told *me* that I didn't want to go through with it. And I guess she's-she's doing it again, cause all of this-all of this is everything that she wouldn't want. She wasn't a bride-to-be. She wasn't a victim. She was strong and real and messed up and wickedly honest, just like her mother. And if I sit here trying to paint it any other way, I... Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just-I thought-I thought that if I could just... paint the pictures that you needed, you know, that... that somehow... that somehow you'd bring these people some peace, finally, and they'd have their daughter back, or... But, uh... that's not how she'd wanna be. The truth is hard. Sometimes it looks so wrong, you know-the color's off, the style's wrong, but I guess it-I guess it's where the good one's live.

    • Crazy credits
      The credits end with "For all our loves...departed, or yet to arrive..."
    • Connections
      Featured in Moonlight Mile: A Journey to Screen (2002)
    • Soundtracks
      I Want to Take You Higher
      Written by Sly Stone (as Sylvester Stewart)

      Published by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. o/b/o Mijac Music (BMI)

      Performed by Sly and the Family Stone

      Courtesy of Epic Records

      By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

    User reviews149

    Review
    Top review
    flawed but compelling family drama
    In `Moonlight Mile' a middle aged couple, along with their prospective son-in-law, attempt to come to terms with the sudden, senseless murder of their daughter right on the eve of her wedding. Oddly enough, considering the grave nature of the subject matter at hand, it is amazing just how upbeat and sunny much of `Moonlight Mile' turns out to be. This is a film about death that does not come across as lugubrious and morbid – though often at a price. We occasionally sense that it is avoiding the ugly darkness of the subject it has chosen to tackle. Perhaps the film's cheery, optimistic tone is just that spoonful of sugar we need to help the medicine go down.

    Writer/director Brad Silberling certainly knows whereof he speaks. He based his tale on the death of his own girlfriend, actress Rebecca Schaeffer, who was slain by a crazed fan in 1989. As a result of his personal experience, Silberling is particularly adroit at dramatizing the utter inadequacy of people's responses to grieving loved ones. He captures with dead-on accuracy the superficiality and hollowness of the clichés, shibboleths and expressions of concern proffered, however well intentionally, in the name of `compassion' and `understanding.' Silberling shows that, in a time of grief this all-encompassing, a family unit must turn in upon itself, shutting out the rest of the world in the process.

    This is what happens with the Floss family. Ben and JoJo can speak openly and frankly about their daughter only with each other and with the young man, Joe, who was on the brink of becoming a member of their family and who not only lives with the couple but is all set to become a partner in Ben's commercial real estate company. In a way, Silberling has set a difficult task for himself right from the start. By choosing to not show us Diana before her murder, we find ourselves unable to sense the void her death has left in the lives of these three people. We are caught a bit off guard by the strangely casual tone of the opening sequences in which the family prepares for and attends the girl's funeral. Ben, JoJo and Joe all seem to be taking this shocking death a bit too much in stride. It is hard for us to believe that she has only been dead for three days when the story opens. Yet, on the other hand, we know that people do often manage to find amazing stores of inner strength that help them get through the early stages of a person's death – only to collapse into grief once the funeral is over and all the guests have gone home. This happens to be the case here – though the moments of despair in this film never plunge quite to the depths of those in, say, `Ordinary People.' In fact this might almost be called `Ordinary People-Lite,' a film about grief for a mass audience that doesn't want to be too disturbed by the experience.

    That may sound like a more negative assessment of the film than I am trying to convey, for `Moonlight Mile' is an often sharp and incisive piece of moviemaking, intelligently written and beautifully acted by Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, Jake Gyllenhaal and Ellen Pompeo as the postal worker who falls for the grieving husband-to-be. Set in New England in the 1970's (for no reason I can fathom, actually), the film is really the story of Joe and his coming to grips with the reality of his situation. Essentially weak-willed and eager to please everyone about him, Joe has to decide whether to allow himself to become absorbed into the lives and world of this couple – functioning almost as their surrogate child – or to break away from this co-dependency and strike out on his own, with or without the new woman in his life. The film deftly balances a number of seemingly conflicting moods and tones, as moments of subtle satire and lowbrow slapstick yield to scenes of searing drama and heartbreaking emotion – just as in life. Admittedly, the end of the film may be a bit too neatly arranged and upbeat for this particular material, but the extraordinarily skilled and gifted cast makes us believe it anyway. One might wish for a bit more grit and messiness in the presentation, but `Moonlight Mile' – which has been exquisitely photographed, by the way – still has the power to move us.
    helpful•5
    2
    • Buddy-51
    • Oct 20, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 4, 2002 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Hebrew
    • Also known as
      • Baby's in Black
    • Filming locations
      • Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA
    • Production companies
      • Touchstone Pictures
      • Hyde Park Entertainment
      • Reveal Entertainment
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $21,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $6,835,856
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $329,771
      • Sep 29, 2002
    • Gross worldwide
      • $10,011,050
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 57min
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Related news

    ‘You Keep Discovering Another Little Thing’: Paul McCartney and Rick Rubin on Finding New Joy in Old Songs
    ‘You Keep Discovering Another Little Thing’: Paul McCartney and Rick Rubin on Finding New Joy in Old Songs
    Aug 9Rollingstone.com
    Paul McCartney and Rick Rubin Have a Field Day Going Down Beatles Rabbit Holes in ‘McCartney 3, 2, 1’: TV Review
    Paul McCartney and Rick Rubin Have a Field Day Going Down Beatles Rabbit Holes in ‘McCartney 3, 2, 1’: TV Review
    Jul 20Variety Film + TV

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, and Jake Gyllenhaal in Moonlight Mile (2002)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Moonlight Mile (2002) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    IMDb's Fall 2021 Movie Guide
    See the full list
    Image caption not available
    2:46
    A Horror Fan's Guide to 'Candyman'
    Watch the video

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • IMDb TV
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads

    © 1990-2021 by IMDb.com, Inc.