Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Racing with the Moon is a fantastic film about people and emotions. My favorite thing about was the attention to detail. From the pool scene to the abortion scene, every moment keeps you engaged.It's a roller coaster of a film in the best way possible. We also get to see the pairing up of Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage again which is a lot of fun. They have great chemistry.

This movie was filmed in and around Mendicino, California. Beautiful part of the States. We had the good fortune of spending a long weekend there just a few years after this movie was made, when the area still looked the same. It brought back good memories.Sean Penn carries this movie as Henry, the fairly serious young man about to complete high school. One day his eye is caught by a new girl in town, the pretty Caddie (Elizabeth McGovern), whom he watches from afar, as she works at the movie house ticket booth, occasionally paying a young boy a few cents to deliver a simple flower to her. This is a "coming of age" story of these boys and girls. There appears to be good "chemistry" between Penn and McGovern, and in fact they became engaged as a result of making this movie together.Note: The DVD package says this is a "PG" movie, but there is some off-color language and a scene with brief male and female nudity. It didn't bother me at all, but it seems that PG-13 would be more appropriate.SPOILERS: One evening late, after the ticket booth closed, Caddie came across the street for a piece of pie, which Henry sold her even though he didn't work there. Then he followed her home, by jumping onto the outside of the bus (he was experienced, having jumped on moving trains many times, for fun). He discovers that she lives in a very nice estate, assumes she is of a wealthy family, refers to her as a "gatsby". But her mother is the maid for the wealthy family.Regardless, Henry and Caddie become close, fall in love. She finds out he is an accomplished pianist. "How did you learn to play so well?" he responds simply, "Lessons." His mother wanted him to be in Carnegie Hall, but he had no interest.Nicolas Cage is Henry's irresponsible sidekick, gets his girl pregnant, they seek an abortion. In an interesting casting, Crispin Glover plays a "Gatsby Boy", who taunts Henry by throwing his bowling ball before Henry, the pinsetter, gets his feet up and out of harm's way. So Henry runs over and punches him. This was a couple of years before Glover was George McFly in "Back to the Future."

I have introduced this movie to many of my friends, as it seems no one has really seen it, or heard of it, but it is truly Wonderful and whenever I get anyone to watch they always agree.A beautiful, bittersweet look at those touching, heart wrenching times in the 40's as the war was beginning and so many young men willingly went to trenches. I love the setting, California along the pacific coast, such extraordinary scenery. Sean Penn in this movie changed the way I looked at him, I realized his depth and sensitivity here. I have loved him ever since.I have always loved anything about the 40's and this movie offers it up in spades. From the movie theaters, the roller rink, the side jobs every one had,to the shoes Caddie desires, this movie really captures that era. The bowling alley is priceless. Nicholas Cage does an incredible job here, much more so than the overblown, self-conscious acting he acquires later.Movies I really like all have one thing in common, details. All the little details and extra touches in this movie make it special. From the pool room scene (nerve-racking) to the abortion scene to the treasure map scene, there are so many wonderful moments in this movie I am astonished it did not get more recognition. But I am a fan of movies that move slow and allow you to absorb the characters and background and plot. I hate car chases and fight scenes.This movie is about people and emotion and feeling and should be a must see for those who care about those sorts of things.

Unlike most Hollywood movies that must be pigeonholed into categories--comedy, drama, romance--this movie dared to be all of these. And it dared to be low-key, without large, manufactured tragedies or plot hooks. Rather, it had the elegiac mood and idiosyncratic details of a fine short story, with its characters neither good nor bad but human, their lives honestly and touchingly observed by a sensitive screenwriter and director.