BOX OF MOONLIGHT (Trimark - 1997) Starring John Turturro, Sam Rockwell, Catherine Keener Screenplay by Tom DiCillo Produced by Marcus Viscidi, Thomas A. Bliss Directed by Tom DiCillo Running time: 107 minutes
***1/2 (out of four stars)
Alternate Rating: B+
Note: Some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers. Be forewarned.
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If screenwriter/director Tom DiCillo had his way, his new film BOX OF MOONLIGHT would have been released years ago; he had originally envisioned it as his follow-up to his feature film debut JOHNNY SUEDE, but due to numerous financing problems and setbacks, the project was postponed time after time. In the meantime, Mr. DiCillo and a group of friends shot a short film which was expanded to become LIVING IN OBLIVION, the critically-lauded 1995 comedy on the perils of low-budget filmmaking that has inspired many aspiring directors, and which has revitalized his filmmaking career. Based on this success, BOX OF MOONLIGHT was finally put into production after years of aborted starts, and the result is a delightfully charming and amusing little comedy.
There is virtually nothing in BOX OF MOONLIGHT that one hasn't seen before in many other films: the strength of this film about a distant, emotionally-repressed engineer who learns to come out of his shell and enjoy life is not in its originality, but in its execution. Mr. DiCillo elicits superb performances from his cast, and the film is both well-paced and well-written, capturing an infectuous carefree sense of whimsy. BOX OF MOONLIGHT is a light and inconsequential film, but a terribly amiable one.
The film's protagonist is straight-laced Al Fountain (John Turturro), an electrical engineer whose life has reached a crisis state. He is despised by his employees for his priggish work ethic, emotionally detached from his loving wife, and his chastisement of his young son's inability to memorize the gigantic flashcard multiplication tables Al brings home puts him at unease - Al is not a happy man. When his offsite project is abruptly cancelled, Al decides in a moment of spontaneity to visit a lake from his childhood rather than return home, in the hopes that the detour might help him recapture some of the happier moments from his past. As Al's luck would have it, the idyllic crystal-clear pond from his treasured memories has become a toxic cesspool of pollution, but it is on his way away from the lake where he comes across a strange, quirky young man dressed in a ragged Davey Crockett suit (Sam Rockwell), who, though a series of bizarre adventures, ultimately helps Al change the way he looks at life.
That the uptight Al will learn from the free-spirited Kid to loosen up is never in question; BOX OF MOONLIGHT does not surprise in that respect, but what is interesting is that this is depicted onscreen in such a compelling and affecting manner, which is primarily due to the work of the two lead actors. John Turturro, one of American film's leading character actors, is in superb form here; this is one of his finest performances, effectively conveying his character's stringentness ultimately superceded by an uneasy levity within a comic context. (The scene in the film where Al breaks out into a little dance is a delight.) Mr. Turturro is terrific in BOX OF MOONLIGHT, with his uneasy and unsettled Al a churning pot of conflicting emotions at the outset of the film, and his winning turn is award-calibre. Sam Rockwell also is strong in his debut performance as the wacky Kid; while a strange, loopy creation whose simple wisdom far exceeds expectations, Mr. Rockwell is able to find the humanity in the character, making him affable and ingratiating while maintaining his harmless eccentricities.
BOX OF MOONLIGHT ultimately works because Mr. DiCillo's characters win us over; it is amusing to watch Al's wide-eyed incredulousness at the Kid's unorthodox lifestyle, and as Al releases the shackles which have bound his way of life, it is equally liberating for the audience. While not particularly a novel film, BOX OF MOONLIGHT is a sweet, charming, and satisfying one.
- Alex Fung
email: aw220@freenet.carleton.ca
web : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
-- Alex Fung (aw220@freenet.carleton.ca) | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/ "At one point when berated and bloodied by her male military superior, Moore screams out a guttural invitation to him to enjoy partaking in the absorption of a certain anatomical member." - Dan Cox, VARIETY, on G.I. JANE
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