When she is informed by her husband of thirteen years that he is leaving her for another woman, Louise does what every self-respecting woman in her position would do: she conks him over the head, duct-tapes him to a chair, and threatens to hold him prisoner till he comes to his senses. Thus, for an hour-and-a-half, we're forced to watch as two self-indulgent crybabies - one a cheat, the other a raving psychotic - thrash out the details of their relationship in a tone so grating and mean-spirited that before long we're ready to send in our own hostage-negotiating team just to bring an end to all of our suffering.
Despite the presence of Meg Ryan, Tim Hutton, Kristen Bell and Justin Long in key roles, "Serious Moonlight," directed by Cheryl Hines and written by the late Adrienne Shelly (both of "Waitress" fame), is a hopelessly contrived, endlessly off-putting dark romantic comedy (a la "The War of the Roses," albeit without the courage of that film's ending) that, I guess, is supposed to be every cheated-on spouse's idea of the perfect wish-fulfillment revenge fantasy (even if the fantasy winds up going awry in the end). But the claustrophobic setting, the sadistic tone, and the sheer unpleasantness of it all make it an excruciating experience to sit through. At one point, Hutton seems to be speaking for the audience when he states, "It's like torture." That's about as astute an example of built-in self-criticism as I've ever come across in a movie.
Despite the presence of Meg Ryan, Tim Hutton, Kristen Bell and Justin Long in key roles, "Serious Moonlight," directed by Cheryl Hines and written by the late Adrienne Shelly (both of "Waitress" fame), is a hopelessly contrived, endlessly off-putting dark romantic comedy (a la "The War of the Roses," albeit without the courage of that film's ending) that, I guess, is supposed to be every cheated-on spouse's idea of the perfect wish-fulfillment revenge fantasy (even if the fantasy winds up going awry in the end). But the claustrophobic setting, the sadistic tone, and the sheer unpleasantness of it all make it an excruciating experience to sit through. At one point, Hutton seems to be speaking for the audience when he states, "It's like torture." That's about as astute an example of built-in self-criticism as I've ever come across in a movie.