You can almost hear a pin drop

RACING WITH THE MOON (1984)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Racing With the Moon" is the kind of movie that can thrive on nostalgia but instead opts to tell a relatively simple story about innocence. It does it without dwelling on 1940's iconography only to tell its story. Its got a big heart, introspective characters and it never drowns in sentiment.

It is the wartime era in California, 1943. The movie is set in a virtually placid setting - almost appearing like those northern towns near Canada with its vast forest and train tracks that whip around endless miles of foliage. Sean Penn is Hopper, a talented would-be pianist, an observer and someone destined for a world beyond bowling alleys, cemeteries, and secret rendezvous in the middle of the woods. He is ready to go off to fight the war. So is Hopper's friend, Nicky (Nicolas Cage), who is a little wilder and a heavy drinker. They stick together like glue, whether it is working at the local bowling alley as pin droppers or outrunning trains. Life takes a turn for Hopper when he meets Caddie (Elizabeth McGovern), a supposed rich girl (a "Gatsby Girl") who works at a library and a movie theater. Hopper is in love with Caddie and woos her with his piano playing.

I am sure this sounds like teenage romantic claptrap or a slick soap-opera for the teenage mindset but "Racing With the Moon" aims for a dreamy, leisurely paced reality. The movie has the look and feel of a real town with real people in a real setting (the production design and art direction bring this era to life with strict attention to detail). But what makes "Racing with the Moon" remarkable is that it is imbued with sweetness and a slight edge. Most telling is one of the most romantic scenes I've seen in a movie in a long time where Hopper plays the piano for the smitten Caddie - it is so lovingly shot and edited, with the soft voice of McGovern added to the soundtrack, that it leaves you in a trance. Coupled with that scene is a long sequence where the boys try to get money by pool-hustling some sailors - there is tension in the air and we are not sure what the outcome will be.

"Racing With the Moon" is a supple treat, a movie that harks back to an era where life only seemed less complicated. There are money problems, abortion issues, tense relationships, fear of war as seen through the amputees who have returned from their service, and a train to catch. As directed by Richard Benjamin and written by Steve Kloves, it may have the appearance of being old-fashioned but, at its emotional core, it is definitely a new-fashioned approach.