RACING WITH THE MOON
US, 1984, 108 minutes, Colour.
Sean Penn, Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth McGovern?, Crispin Glover, Michael Madsen, Dana Carvy, Carol Kane.
Directed by Richard Benjamin.
Racing With The Moon in synopsis sounds like 101 other films. The difference lies in the sensitivity of treatment by director, former comedian, Richard Benjamin (My Favorite Year, City Heat). Two teenagers in a small Californian town, 1942743, wait to go into the Marines. The usual situations and problems arise: school, home, jobs, relationships, selfishness, hurt, the draft. The film also focuses on an abortion and its emotional consequences. Sean Penn (Bad Boys, Fast Times, Falcon and the Snowman) and Elizabeth McGovern? (Ragtime, Lovesick, Once Upon a Time in America) and Nicolas Cage (The Cotton Club, Birdy) are sympathetic in the central roles. While the film has an aura of nostalgia and the romantic, human nature, strengths and weaknesses have not changed over the decades and the film offers enjoyment as well as food for reflection by both teenagers and parents.
1. An enjoyable and entertaining film? Dramatic impact? Emotional? A humane film?
2. The re-creation of the '40s? California? The town and its detail, the war and the allusions? Editing - both quiet and pace? The tour de force of the pool game and its aftermath? The musical score and its range? Songs of the period, classical music?
3. A portrait of the '30s and '40s? America of the '30s, the end of an era? The impact of World War Two? American values, crises? The teenagers who were to be the post-war generation?
4. The opening with the train tracks, Henry, the use of the trains throughout the film, racing the trains, jumping onto them and off, day and night, the ending and the chasing of the train?
5. The portrait of Henry? Walking along the train tracks and first impressions? The kids and the coins on the train lines? (His and Nick's past imaged by the bogs?), His mother and her expectations, the piano lesson and the classics, changing to boogie-woogie and the reaction of his teacher? Going out, encountering his father, the dog? Nick and the bowling alley? Friendship with Nick? The work at the bowls? The fight with the rich teenagers? The bonds between Nick and Henry? His relationship, with his father and mother - his father's friendship and sympathy, the cemetery, the talk. his father telling Nick's story to him? The date - and the encounter with Annie? The visit to Nick's girlfriend's home? Meeting Caddie at the cinema, giving her the flower. pretending to serve in the shop and giving her the pie, following her home? His presumption that she was rich? The theatre, the war, the newsreels of the war? The date? The rehearsals? Caddie and the roller-skating sequence - and his showing off, saving himself? Their sharing their special places, his playing the piano for her, the story of the treasure hunt, the pond, the nude swim, the sexual encounter? Similarities to Nick, differences? In his treatment of Caddie? Sharing experiences - looking at the shoes in the shop? The rehearsal for the invasion and his turning on the dance record? The visit to the library, the faux pas with the book that he chose, Caddie taking him to the hospital, the encounter with the man who had lost his limb? His anger with Caddie? The build-up to the birthday party, his need for money, the question of the abortion. the clash with Nick, the clash with Caddie? The game of pool - and its failure and their escape? The importance of the funeral, the reconciliation, the map for the treasure hunt and the
11. The comedy of the pool sequence? The build up, the reversal of the con? the humour of the escape? Pace and timing?
12. The importance of the natural beauty of the environment: the landscape, the sea, the moon and clouds, the picture of a far away, beautiful world?
