A full disclosure, I am a musician, and cool jazz is not my main idiom. That said, "Moonlight" makes an attempt to re-create some of the movies of the past in a quasi noir mode, the lonely flawed main man, the mysterious woman who catches his attention, the smokey bar, the urban setting, etc. On that level the movie succeeds, if that is what you're looking for in a movie. It does capture the nostalgia it was seeking, and if you are missing that in your entertainment life you might want to catch this film. Also if you love cool jazz but aren't picky about its execution this might also be a worthy investment of your time. Amy Adams has a terrific smooth late-night voice that lends well to the music. Alec Newman though, is merely adequate. What is really a treat is the music itself, arranged and performed on Hammond B-3 organ (the gold standard of such instruments), piano and trumpet by Joey DeFrancesco who also plays the bandleader of the house band in the movie, although he is only portrayed playing the Hammond.
Where the movie fails utterly is where a musical like this one is least important. Not being an urban dweller myself I have little to identify with the extreme self-absorption of the characters in "Seranade" nor do I connect with the cityscape setting. There were just so many missed connections, serendipitous crossings and unresolved motives that I finally gave up trying to follow what story line there was and just bask in DeFrancesco's organ playing. As a fretsmith I regret not devoting enough time to keys to become proficient, I would love to be able to play like him.
In the end I failed to establish any sort of connection with any of the characters, I didn't care what happened to them. As a story the movie crumbled into inconsequential shards for me. If you want to enjoy this movie for what it really has to offer, skip the DVD, find the soundtrack and spare yourself the dead space between the music.
Where the movie fails utterly is where a musical like this one is least important. Not being an urban dweller myself I have little to identify with the extreme self-absorption of the characters in "Seranade" nor do I connect with the cityscape setting. There were just so many missed connections, serendipitous crossings and unresolved motives that I finally gave up trying to follow what story line there was and just bask in DeFrancesco's organ playing. As a fretsmith I regret not devoting enough time to keys to become proficient, I would love to be able to play like him.
In the end I failed to establish any sort of connection with any of the characters, I didn't care what happened to them. As a story the movie crumbled into inconsequential shards for me. If you want to enjoy this movie for what it really has to offer, skip the DVD, find the soundtrack and spare yourself the dead space between the music.