Anytime there's a film that involves music, I'm there. Any film that involves jazz music, I'm just as good as sold. So when I heard there was a film about a jazz singer starring Amy Adams, one of my favorite actresses, it was a must see for me. I was surprised in more ways than one with this film.
"Moonlight Serenade" is a film directed by Giancarlo Tallarico and stars Amy Adams, Alec Newman, Moon Bloodgood, Harriet Sansom Harris, and Michael Raymond-James. The film is about a business man by day and a piano player by night named Nate Holden. Nate isn't very happy with his job but pretends very well and he is on the verge of a very big deal. One night he meets a coat check girl at a jazz club and she tries to convince him to perform a musical act with her after hearing him play. The plot is simple enough and sticks to that formula as well as it can.
There is so many problems with this film and I'm actually surprised that Amy Adams signed on for this mess of a film. Sure this film has enormous promise, but like a few films that I've reviewed before, this never heightens to it's potential. The entire idea is wasted for a formulaic set up. I wanted to love this film so bad and I was shocked to discover that it wasn't a gem. This film looked cheap to me like a film student may have shot it and edited it. However, I think even a film student could do a better job. The film just felt stilted most of the time and some of the performances, not including Amy of course, were wooden and over the top at times. That's another thing, the writing of this film was horrible. The dialogue wasn't real, it felt like dialogue and no viewer should be able to tell the difference. I suppose I shouldn't have expected much from a direct-to-video film but these days those films have been better than usual and even has you questioning why they didn't get a theatrical release, hello "Trick 'R Treat".
Amy Adams is obviously the best thing about this film but even she falls prey to the material given to her. She plays the part with as much conviction as she can and it works wonderfully. Alec Newman is alright but not great. He definitely has potential to be a great actor. The most ANNYOYING actress in this film is Harriet Sansom Harris. In every other film that she's in, she's great but in this she just ruined it for me. She was probably the worst performer in this entire film and if you don't know who she is, you will know her after you see this because she'll annoy the hell out of you. Moon Bloodgood was wasted as the seductress and her character's story never gets developed.
This film could've gone so many ways. It could've even had some noir in it. It's a jazz film it would've fit the profile. The director didn't craft the film it seems like. The look of the film is great, particularly in the club scenes. It has it's mild charm and succeeds in being charming occasionally but never uses the city of New York to it's full advantage and that, my cinephile friends, is a crime in itself. In other scenes the sets looked cheap. I do admire the fact that this film was made. It takes a lot to make a film and the very fact that this was a vision that was finished says something. He just made a film and put jazz music in it. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone but if you're curious, netflix it.
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