1982 film by Alan Parker
Shoot the Moon
is a 1982 American
drama film
directed by
Alan Parker
, and written by
Bo Goldman
. It stars
Albert Finney
,
Diane Keaton
,
Karen Allen
,
Peter Weller
, and
Dana Hill
. Set in
Marin County, California
, the film follows George (Finney) and Faith Dunlap (Keaton), whose deteriorating marriage, separation and love affairs devastate their four children. The title of the film alludes to an accounting rule known in English as "shooting the moon" in the scored card game
hearts
.
Goldman began writing the script in 1971, deriving inspiration from his encounters with
dysfunctional couples
. He spent several years trying to secure a major film studio to produce it before taking it to
20th Century Fox
. Parker learned of the script as he was developing
Fame
(1980), and he later worked with Goldman to rewrite it. After an unsuccessful pre-production development at Fox, Parker moved the project to
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
, which provided a budget of $12 million.
Principal photography
lasted 62 days, in the period from January to April 1981, on location in Marin County.
Shoot the Moon
premiered on February 19, 1982 to mostly positive reviews, but was deemed a
box-office failure
, having grossed only $9.2 million in North America. It later competed for the
Palme d'Or
at the
1982 Cannes Film Festival
, and received two
Golden Globe Award
nominations for
Best Actor ? Drama
(Finney) and
Best Actress ? Drama
(Keaton).
Plot
[
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]
In
Marin County, California
, writer George Dunlap and his wife Faith are an unhappy couple who live with their daughters Sherry, Jill, Marianne, and Molly in a
farmhouse
that George has refurbished. George is preparing to attend an awards banquet in his honor, when he makes a phone call to Sandy, a single mother with whom he has begun an affair. Sherry, the oldest of the four children, picks up the phone and listens in on the conversation.
After the children leave for school the next morning, Faith expresses her suspicions of the affair, prompting George to leave and move into his beach house. Sherry refuses to speak to George, while her sisters visit George on weekends. Jill, Marianne and Molly also meet Sandy, who harbors cynicism towards them and views them as a distraction in her sexual affair with George.
Faith falls into depression, but is elated when she begins a relationship with Frank Henderson, a contractor she has hired to build a tennis court on the grove of the farmhouse. One day, George visits the farmhouse, aggressively requesting to Faith that he be able to give Sherry her birthday present, a typewriter. George grows frustrated upon meeting Frank and seeing the construction work being done to the yard. George returns to the home later that night, again demanding that he be able to give Sherry her present. When Faith refuses to let him in, George breaks the door apart, pushes her out of the house, and blocks the entrance door with a chair. After Sherry refuses the gift, George spanks her repeatedly. The other children try to fight him off, but George does not relent until after Sherry threatens him with a pair of scissors. After Molly lets her back into the house through a side door, Faith comforts a sobbing Sherry, and George leaves ashamed.
George and Faith go to court to begin the first stage of their divorce proceedings, which involves joint custody of the children. After the court hearing, Faith tells George that her father has been hospitalized. At the hospital, they both downplay the disintegration of their marriage, but Faith's father senses that they are lying, and dies shortly thereafter.
After the funeral, George finds Faith having dinner at a restaurant and joins her. They have a heated, passionate exchange, arguing about their relationship before getting drunk. They go to a hotel room where Faith and the children are staying, and have sex. After Sherry enters Faith's bedroom and finds them lying in bed, Faith asks George to leave.
When the tennis court is completed, Faith and Frank throw an outdoor party at the farmhouse. Sherry scorns her mother for having sex with George and Frank before running away. She runs to George's beach house where she sees her father playing a game of
hearts
with Sandy and her son. George looks out the window and sees Sherry sitting on a pier. He goes to comfort her and as they reconcile, he gives Sherry the typewriter.
George returns Sherry to the farmhouse, where Faith invites him to visit the tennis court and meet Frank's friends. Under a seemingly friendly facade, George praises Frank for his work on the tennis court. He then goes into his car and crashes into the court repeatedly until it is demolished. Enraged, Frank pulls George out of the car and beats him relentlessly before walking away. As the children try to comfort their father, George reaches out for Faith to take his hand.
Cast
[
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]
Production
[
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]
Development
[
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]
Shoot the Moon
was
Bo Goldman
's first attempt at writing a screenplay and was originally developed under the title
Switching
. He began writing the script in 1971, influenced by his encounters with
dysfunctional couples
and how their disputes affected their children.
[6]
"When I started to write this screenplay years ago," he said, "I looked around me and all the marriages were collapsing, and the real victims of these marital wars were the children."
[6]
For several years, Goldman tried to sell his script, without success.
[6]
Eventually, the script was picked up by
20th Century Fox
after the commercial success of
Star Wars
(1977).
Alan Ladd Jr.
, president of Fox, sent the script to
Alan Parker
, as the director was beginning
pre-production
on
Fame
(1980). After filming
Fame
, Parker met with Goldman, and the two worked together to rewrite the script.
[2]
Among the changes, they moved the story from
New York City
to
Marin County, California
,
[2]
and retitled the script
Shoot the Moon
, a metaphoric title that references the move of "shooting the moon" in the card game
hearts
.
After Ladd was fired from Fox in 1979, Parker discussed the project with
Sherry Lansing
, the studio's head of production, who balked at the film's proposed budget of $12 million.
[2]
Parker then discussed the project with
David Begelman
, head of
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(MGM), who agreed to
green-light
the film on the conditions that Parker stay on budget and secure
Diane Keaton
, a sought-after actress, in a leading role.
[2]
Casting
[
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]
Left to right: Diane Keaton and Albert Finney, who star in the film
In their search for actors, Parker and casting director Juliet Taylor held open casting calls in
San Francisco
,
Los Angeles
and
New York City
. For the role of George Dunlap, Parker first approached
Jack Nicholson
, who declined due to the script's subject matter. Parker then approached English film and stage actor
Albert Finney
, whom he had admired.
[2]
On portraying George, Finney said, "It required personal acting; I had to dig into myself. When you have to expose yourself and use your own vulnerability, you can get a little near the edge. Scenes where Diane Keaton and I really have to go at each other reminded me of times when my own behavior has been monstrous."
[8]
Diane Keaton was cast as Faith Dunlap, George's wife. Parker had first discussed the role with her as the actress was preparing to film
Reds
(1981). He also discussed the role with
Meryl Streep
, who declined due to her pregnancy.
[2]
Keaton agreed to star in the film after the project was taken to MGM.
[2]
She described the film as "the war of a man and a woman who are breaking up and how the woman is crushed by this man going off and having an affair with someone else."
Appearing as George and Faith's four children are
Dana Hill
as Sherry,
Tracey Gold
as Marianne,
Viveka Davis
as Jill and
Tina Yothers
as Molly. Of the four children, only Hill was an established actress, while the remaining three were making their feature film debuts.
[2]
Karen Allen
secured the role of Sandy, George's mistress, after filming
Raiders of the Lost Ark
(1981).
[2]
Filming
[
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]
The film was made on a budget of $12 million.
Principal photography
commenced on January 15, 1981.
[2]
During pre-production at 20th Century Fox, Parker, producer
Alan Marshall
and
production designer
Geoffrey Kirkland
spent several months searching for houses to depict the Dunlap family home. They discovered the Roy Ranch House, an abandoned, 114-year-old
clapboard
ranch house
in San Francisco.
[10]
The production dismantled the house into four pieces, which were then transported to the Nicasio Valley region of Marin County, California. The filmmakers spent six weeks restoring and decorating the house, as well as constructing a driveway, gardens and a tennis court.
[2]
Scenes set in Sandy's beach house were filmed in
Stinson Beach, California
.
[10]
George and Faith's divorce proceeding was shot at the
Napa County Courthouse Plaza
in
Napa, California
. The filmmakers also filmed scenes at the
Wolf House
,
Jack London
's estate in
Glen Ellen, California
.
[10]
In San Francisco, the production shot scenes at the Fairmont Hotel in
San Jose, California
. Other filming locations included
California Street
, the
San Francisco?Oakland Bay Bridge
,
Sea Cliff
and
St. Joseph's Hospital
.
[10]
Filming concluded on April 9, 1981 after 62 days.
[2]
Parker spent six months editing the film in
London
, England with 300,000 feet of film.
[2]
Music
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]
After working on the musical
Fame
, Parker had decided not to employ an original
score
for
Shoot the Moon
. Goldman selected the song "
Don't Blame Me
" from MGM's music library to be used in the film. The song is featured as a minimalist piano score that acts as a
leitmotif
. Parker stated, "I had it played on a piano with one finger?like a child would play, with innocent simplicity."
[2]
The film also features pre-recorded songs, including "
Play with Fire
" performed by
the Rolling Stones
and "
Still the Same
" performed by
Bob Seger
.
Parker explained that the songs were "selfishly chosen because they were contemporary songs that meant a lot to me personally."
[2]
Release
[
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]
Parker had hoped to release
Shoot the Moon
before the end of 1981 for awards consideration.
[10]
"It was ready for release in October of 1981," Goldman said in
Peter Biskind
's book
Star: How
Warren Beatty
Seduced America
(2010). "But Keaton was contractually prohibited from releasing another movie in the same calendar year as
Reds
. So we had to release
Shoot the Moon
in January 1982, right after New Year's, the worst possible time for a tough movie like this. The Alans?director Alan Parker and producer Alan Marshall?begged Beatty to release her from the obligation. His answer was, 'Nope, nope, nope.' It died as a result of the release date he had screwed us on."
[13]
MGM gave
Shoot the Moon
a
platform release
, opening it in
New York City
,
Toronto
and
Los Angeles
on January 22, 1982,
[10]
before expanding to other cities in North America on February 19.
[10]
It was a
box-office failure
,
[14]
grossing $9,217,530 against a production budget of $12 million.
[2]
[5]
In 1986, the distribution rights to the film were transferred to
Turner Entertainment Co.
, which acquired MGM's pre-May 1986 library of feature films.
[15]
Currently, the rights are owned by
Warner Bros.
, after its parent company
Time Warner
acquired Turner's library of MGM films in 1996.
[16]
Home media
[
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]
Shoot the Moon
was released on
DVD
on November 6, 2007, by
Warner Home Video
. Special features include an
audio commentary
by Parker and Goldman, and the film's
theatrical trailer
.
[17]
Reception
[
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]
Critical response
[
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]
Shoot the Moon
received mostly positive reviews from critics.
On the
Review aggregator
website
Rotten Tomatoes
, the film holds a score of 85% based on 13 reviews, and an average rating of 7.72/10.
[18]
Film critics
Pauline Kael
and
David Denby
, who had been dismissive of Parker's previous films, praised
Shoot the Moon
as his best directorial effort.
[19]
Roger Ebert
of the
Chicago Sun-Times
appreciated the storytelling, stating, "Despite its flaws, despite its gaps, despite two key scenes that are dreadfully wrong,
Shoot the Moon
contains a raw emotional power of the sort we rarely see in domestic dramas."
[21]
In his review for
The New York Times
,
Vincent Canby
commended the acting, notably the performances of Finney, Keaton, Allen and
Peter Weller
, and compared the film to
Kramer vs. Kramer
(1979) and
Ordinary People
(1980), describing it as "a domestic comedy of sometimes terrifying implications, not about dolts but intelligent, thinking beings."
[22]
Gene Siskel
of the
Chicago Tribune
called the film "an exceptionally strong family drama, with enough surprises to qualify as lifelike."
[23]
A negative review carried by
Variety
termed the film "a grim drama of marital collapse which proves disturbing and irritating by turns."
[24]
Dan Callahan of
Slant Magazine
praised the performances, but criticized Parker's direction, writing, "Unfortunately,
Shoot the Moon
has some serious problems that get in the way of [Keaton and Finney's] unforgettable performances ... Though Parker's way of going for the jugular can be very effective in the big moments, he lets lots of small, deliberately banal domestic scenes just dribble away."
[25]
Accolades
[
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]
Shoot the Moon
received several nominations, with particular recognition for Finney and Keaton's performances. In May 1982, the film competed for the
Palme d'Or
at the
1982 Cannes Film Festival
.
[26]
[27]
It was one of two films directed by Parker to appear at the festival, the other being
Pink Floyd ? The Wall
(1982), which was shown out of competition.
[2]
At the
40th Golden Globe Awards
, the film received two nominations for
Best Actor ? Drama
(Finney) and
Best Actress ? Drama
(Keaton).
[28]
At the
36th British Academy Film Awards
, Finney received a
BAFTA Award
nomination for
Best Actor
, but lost to
Ben Kingsley
, who won for
Gandhi
(1982).
[29]
References
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
"Shoot the Moon"
.
British Board of Film Classification
. December 13, 1996.
Archived
from the original on September 6, 2017
. Retrieved
September 6,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
Parker, Alan
.
"Shoot the Moon ? Alan Parker ? Director, Writer, Producer ? Official Website"
. AlanParker.com.
Archived
from the original on September 5, 2017
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Boyer, Peter J; Pollock, Dale (28 Mar 1982). "MGM-UA and the Big Debt".
Los Angeles Times
. p. 11.
- ^
a
b
"Shoot the Moon (1982)"
.
Box Office Mojo
.
Archived
from the original on September 5, 2017
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
Hinson, Hal
(July 11, 1982).
"Cry of the Screenwriter"
.
The Washington Post
.
Archived
from the original on September 8, 2017
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
Farber, Stephen (July 26, 1981).
"Finney comes back to film"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on September 5, 2017
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"Detail view of Movies Page"
.
American Film Institute
.
Archived
from the original on July 8, 2017
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
Biskind, Peter (2010).
Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America
. New York: Simon & Schuster.
ISBN
9780743246583
.
- ^
Lindsey, Robert (April 14, 1982).
"M-G-M U.A. shifts officials"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on September 8, 2017
. Retrieved
September 7,
2017
.
- ^
Delugach, Al (June 7, 1986).
"Turner Sells Fabled MGM but Keeps a Lion's Share"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on August 1, 2017
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
Bloomberg Business News (September 27, 1996).
"Warner Bros. to Run Most of Turner's Entertainment Unit"
.
Los Angeles Times
.
Archived
from the original on August 25, 2016
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
Callahan, Dan (November 25, 2007).
"Shoot the Moon DVD Review"
.
Slant Magazine
.
Archived
from the original on August 25, 2014
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
"Shoot the Moon (1982)"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
.
Archived
from the original on November 28, 2017
. Retrieved
July 16,
2019
.
- ^
Kael, Pauline
(January 18, 1982). "The Current Cinema".
The New Yorker
.
- ^
Ebert, Roger
(January 1, 1982).
"Shoot the Moon Movie Review & Film Summary (1982)"
.
RogerEbert.com
.
Archived
from the original on September 5, 2017
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
Canby, Vincent
(January 22, 1982).
"Movie Review - - Finney and Miss Keaton in 'Shoot the Moon'
"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on September 5, 2017
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
Siskel, Gene
(February 19, 1982).
"
'Shoot the Moon' is a hearts game played for real"
.
Chicago Tribune
. p. 59.
Archived
from the original on September 5, 2017
. Retrieved
September 4,
2017
.
- ^
Variety
staff (December 31, 1981).
"Shoot the Moon"
.
Variety
.
Archived
from the original on September 30, 2017
. Retrieved
September 30,
2017
.
- ^
Callahan, Dan (November 25, 2007).
"Shoot the Moon"
.
Slant Magazine
.
Archived
from the original on August 25, 2014
. Retrieved
September 30,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Cannes 1982"
.
cinema-francais.fr
(in French).
Archived
from the original on June 13, 2017
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
"Shoot the Moon - Festival de Cannes"
.
Cannes Film Festival
.
Archived
from the original on September 8, 2017
. Retrieved
September 7,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Winners & Nominees 1982 (Golden Globes)"
.
Hollywood Foreign Press Association
.
Archived
from the original on July 1, 2017
. Retrieved
September 5,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Film in 1983"
.
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
.
Archived
from the original on September 5, 2017
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
"Tootsie acclaimed best film of '82; Hoffman best actor"
.
The Phoenix
. January 5, 1983. p. 32
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
Maslin, Janet
(December 21, 1982).
"New York Critics Vote 'Gandhi' Best"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on September 5, 2017
. Retrieved
September 3,
2017
.
- ^
"Shoot the Moon (1982)"
.
Mubi
.
Archived
from the original on September 5, 2017
. Retrieved
September 4,
2017
.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Gonthier, David F. Jr.; O'Brien, Timothy L. (2015). "5.
Shoot the Moon
, 1982".
The Films of Alan Parker, 1976?2003
. United States:
McFarland & Company
.
ISBN
978-0-7864-9725-6
.
- Granger, Rod; Toumarkine, Doris (November 1988). "The Unstoppables".
Spy
. United States: Sussex Publishers, LLC. pp. 88?94.
ISSN
0890-1759
.
- Mitchell, Deborah L. (2001). "5. 1982-1986: The Evolving Star Image".
Diane Keaton: Artist and Icon
. United States:
McFarland & Company
. p. 76.
ISBN
978-0-7864-1082-8
.
- Denby, David
(January 25, 1982). "Going for Broke".
New York
. p. 66.
ISSN
0028-7369
.
External links
[
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]