This prequel to THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and HANNIBAL is saved by a very good script by Ted Dally (the main reason all the lead actors signed on!) and some good performances -- particularly by Hopkins, Norton, Fiennes and Watson. Apparently, several scenes with Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in jail were added to feed the frenzy of the fans, and these all work to good effect, and are quite amusing. An interesting side note is that Hopkins made the key choice to play Lecter as a “head waiter” in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Jodie Foster cleverly reacted off it, Jonathan Demme, the director, wisely did not interfere with a brilliant acting choice, and they all wound up with Oscars! A good example of “If it works, don’t try and fix it!”

The conceit of having agent Norton consult Hopkins in jail about catching another mad serial killer (Fiennes) works well until the ending which is rather contrived. Emily Watson does good work as the blind woman who takes Fiennes’ fancy, and Keitel and Hoffman offer their usual solid support. Usually its playing with fire to do a “three-peater” but this film has some genuine scary moments, and the script keeps things moving. Brett Ratner, who graduated from filming music videos, does a good job with an eclectic cast, several of whom apparently gave him quite a hard time on the set, particularly Edward Norton! Hopkins hated doing a lot of takes, and Keitel, who comes from the Scorcese/de Niro school, liked to talk every scene to death, and then said “I'll do what ever you want!” This is an exciting well-made thriller that will do well at the box office, and is worth your time and money.

Anyone living in a foreign country, who has never been to Britain and knows nothing about the country, would imagine after seeing Mike Leigh's NAKED, SECRETS AND LIES and now ALL OR NOTHING that all working-class people in South-East London are completely emotionally dysfunctional, are unable to express love or affection, and live lives of unrelentingly squalid, drunken misery! While this may unfortunately be true in many cases, Mike Leigh likes to wallow in it. NAKED and SECRETS AND LIES were both excellent films, but this film is the pits! Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville, both excellent actors, are wasted in this dark, turgid “kitchen-sink” drama about a weak-willed cab driver, his long-suffering wife, and their two obese children. The son acts out, and the daughter, who works at a mental hospital, retreats into her own little world of misery. A “barrel of laughs” it’s not, and therein lies the problem. Except for the final scene where the son is in hospital with his family while he is recovering from a heart attack, there is NO humor in this film whatever.

Mike Leigh has gained a lot of mileage from the unique way he works with his actors, starting with no script and slowly over a six month period eliciting story and performances from them by way of experimentation and improvisation -- or as a wag friend of mine said, “Maybe covering for the fact that he is not a very good writer himself!” However, here he is going over old ground, and its becoming a real bore, as is the recalcitrant and rather defensive way he defends himself from criticism during the Q&A. Once again, the acting is excellent, but the film is not!

MOONLIGHT MILE is a moving, offbeat, family drama, with an excellent script by director Brad Silberling, based on a romantic incident from his own life a few years ago. Hoffman and Sarandon play a middleclass couple in a small town whose daughter is senselessly gunned down in a coffee shop -- wrong place at the wrong time. Her fiancée, Gyllenhaal (whose real-life sister is currently starring in the rather kinky S&M themed film SECRETARY) moves in with them and is contemplating becoming a junior partner in Hoffman's business.

From this premise, the whole thing then unravels. Turns out the young couple were about to break up and not get married, the father is passively in denial, and the eccentric and talented mother starts acting out, big-time. To complicate matters, Jake slowly falls in love with the local bartender (Ellen Pompeo) whose great love -- the bar owner, has split on her.

This could easily have become schmaltzy and melodramatic, but the performances lift it and make it compelling. Sarandon does her best work since DEAD MAN WALKING and should definitely get an Oscar nomination, Hoffman gives good support in a less showy role, Jake Gyllenhaal, who sprang to prominence in the Sundance Festival Indy favorite TADPOLE, is a fine, sensitive young actor, who takes direction well, and new-comer Ellen Pompeo is a luminescent young film presence in a “break-out” role. MOONLIGHT MILE is well worth seeing and will show up at awards time.

An interesting side note during the Q&A with Hoffman and Silberling, was that Dustin was 30 years old when he filmed THE GRADUATE playing the 21 year old “Benjamin” and Anne Bancroft was in real life only 35 when portraying the 45 year old “Mrs. Robinson!” He said that Mel Brooks, who was newly wed to Anne, kept on nervously checking in by phone the day they filmed the love scene!