Man In The Moon (1991)

Directed by: Robert Mulligan Written by: Jenny Wingfield

It’s 1957 in Louisiana and there’s innocence, Elvis and The Man In The Moon to tell your problems to and who’ll fix them by morning…at least according to Dani (Danielle) and Maureen’s mother (Tess Harper). Innocence, by the end of this particular summer, will be a thing of the past (as always happens in life), for Maureen but especially 14-year-old-gum-snapping Dani (Reece Witherspoon in her first role) changing quickly from tomboy to young lady.

Change arrives in their sleepy little town in the form of returning neighbors whose sun has grown into a handsome 17-year-old who Dani develops a crush on. As much as he likes Dani, his eyes are for Maureen. So now, this sister who Dani always wished she could be becomes her mortal enemy. How many different emotions this young girl must deal with? Thankfully there’s her mother and father (Sam Waterston) to turn to…or be forced to turn to against her will so they can help her.

Then a tiny, careless act is committed while daydreaming and tragedy strikes, a tragedy that makes a person want to question what can offer no answer…and Dani and her sister are thrust straight into adulthood, and the adults thrust deeper into their adulthoods as lost innocence, this type of lost innocence, will do.

And, in the end? There is each other, there is Elvis, and there is The Man In The Moon willing to listen to your problems, and maybe, just maybe, if you believe enough as you drift off to sleep, have them fixed come morning.