Moonlight Serenade (2009)

This film disappoints in every aspect. The acting is middling (even the almost always wonderful Amy Adams and sadly-underused Harriet Sansom Harris), the script is ridden with clichés, the production values are amateurish, and the plot is terribly predictable. It is a credit to Ms. Adams that her screen presence alone kept me watching until the end even though she is rarely given anything to do in this film (besides exhibiting a fine singing voice) that would merit such dedication. Without her, I probably would not have made it past the first 20 minutes. The only positive thing going for this movie is the fine selection of American standards sung throughout which could easily be otherwise obtained from other artists and various other sources.It is easy to see why the studio sat on this film for more than 4 years before finally releasing as direct-to-DVD once Amy Adams had become a rising star.

Golly gee, I enjoyed this movie for what it was: a light romantic movie full of songs from the great American songbook, sung completely and pretty good by the actual actors, with the greatest jazz music around. I liked the cast and thought they were all excellent (guess that shows how much I know about acting). And, I would not be nervous in watching the movie with my children!!! Oh how wonderful to hear great American classic songs again! Harriet Sansom Harris was a delight---the screen lighted up with her. Oh, yeah, I thought Alec Newman did an exceptional job. And then, there was Amy Adams---what do you say other than, "Oh, my aching heart!!" I bought her as an aspiring jazz singer. Not last or least, the great Joey DeFrancesco!!!!

"Moonlight Serenade" seems to be a vanity project that probably started with a promise, but if fizzled out and it was released directly as a DVD, although we cannot be sure. The main interest in watching the film was Amy Adams, since we did not know the others in the cast. The best thing the film has going for itself are those glorious songs that have become standards. The story line does not make much sense. The story of an aspiring young singer was interesting, however, the screenplay, as written by Jonathan Abrahams and based on a story by the director, Giancarlo Tallarico, is weak. The basic idea of two people from such different backgrounds, does not work out. Not only that, the creators threw at us a situation that we had no idea about, when Chloe resigns her happiness in order to care for a man fighting a drug addiction, of whom we never knew a thing.Amy Adams shows a fine singing song, something we had no idea she had. Ms. Adams deserves much better. We suspect her participation in the film might have been a favor to the people in charge of the production. The only redeeming point is the music heard in the movie.

Having endured this film last night, I turned off the DVD player with a sense of deserving a medal for having the stamina to see it through to the end. Throughout the film I felt that I was watching the storyline fillers that you get in a high budget porn movie. the acting was stiff and taut, camera work appalling, and the locations and sets were so poor it felt like they had borrowed them from the local High School "Amateur Dramatic's Society".The only saving grace for this movie was that it had Amy Adams and Harriet Sansom Harris in its credits, other than that it was pure dribble.