A Walk On The Moon is a 1999 drama film starring Diane Lane, Viggo Mortensen, Liev Schreiber and Anna Paquin. The movie, which was set against the backdrop of the Woodstock festival of 1969 and the moon landing of that year, was distributed by Miramax Films.
Plot summary
Pearl Kantrowitz (Lane) and her husband Marty (Schreiber) are a lower middle class Jewish couple in New York City, where Marty is a television repairman. The movie begins with Pearl and Marty taking their two children, a young boy and teenage girl Alison (Paquin) to a bungalow colony in the Catskills, where they go every year.
Pearl is becoming bored with her humdrum life. Marty is forced to work hard and can only come up on weekends. So Pearl is vulnerable when a young peddler, Walker Jerome (Mortensen), arrives in his old bus to sell blouses. He is a free-spirited hippie. They begin to become involved romantically, with the affair consummated on the night men land on the moon for the first time, July 20, 1969.
Marty's mother (Tovah Feldshuh), who is staying with them, gets wind of the affair but cannot persuade Pearl to break it off. The affair continues when the Woodstock festival is being held nearby. Pearl goes to the festival, and unbeknownst to her, her daughter does as well, who observing Pearl cavorting in an undressed state.
Marty learns of the affair and confronts Pearl. Alison also confronts her mother in an emotional scene. Pearl is forced to deal with her obligations as a wife and mother as well as her yearning for freedom.
Music
"More ('Ti guardero nel cuore')" -- Bobby Darin
"The Name Game" -- Lincoln Chase and Shirley Elliston
"Danke Schoen" -- Wayne Newton
"Wishin' & Hopin'" -- Dusty Springfield
"Ripple" -- The Grateful Dead
"For Your Love" -- The Yardbirds
"Sunlight" -- The Youngbloods
"Summertime" -- Janis Joplin (Big Brother and the Holding Company)
"Sally Go Round the Roses" -- The Great Society
"Today" -- Jefferson Airplane
"Embryonic Journey" -- Jefferson Airplane
"Kiss of Fire" -- Georgia Gibbs
"Cactus Tree" -- Joni Mitchell
"Who Knows Where the Time Goes" -- Judy Collins
"Town Without Pity" -- Gene Pitney & Mandy Barnett
"Uncle John's Band" -- The Grateful Dead
"Crimson & Clover" -- Tommy James and the Shondells
"Freedom" -- Richie Havens
"The Fish Cheer" -- Country Joe McDonald
"I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" -- Country Joe McDonald
"Subterranean Homesick Blues" -- Bob Dylan
"White Bird" -- It's a Beautiful Day
"Israelites" -- Desmond Dekker
"When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You)" -- Dean Martin
"Purple Haze" -- Jimi Hendrix
"Follow" -- Richie Havens
"Helplessly Hoping" -- Crosby, Stills, Nash, And Young
"Crystal Blue Persuasion" -- Tommy James and the Shondells
Critical reception
The movie received a generally favorable reception among critics. The Rotten Tomatoes website found that 72% of critics gave the film a positive review.
Entertainment Weekly ranked it #9 on their "50 Sexiest Movies Ever" poll.[1]
References
External links
