Movie Loner

Anyone familiar with writer/director Tom DiCillo’s phenomenal Living in Oblivion is well aware filmmaking can be excruciatingly painful. I’m amazed most movies don’t turn into disasters. In particular independent films are always at risk for falling apart. Without deep Hollywood coffers, a smaller project can be ruined by one or two bad days of shooting. For that reason I am appreciative of a movie like Box of Moonlight, DiCillo’s eccentric follow-up to Living in Oblivion.

Straight-edge electrical engineer Al Fountain (John Turturro) has just finished installing a factory gas turbine somewhere in the middle-of-nowhere rural America. Instead of going directly home to Chicago Al rents a car and sets out to rediscover Splatchee Lake, a quaint water park he once visited as a kid. Al’s perfect memory is spoiled when he finds an abandoned Splatchee sitting on a contaminated lake. Disappointed, Al hits the road and nearly crashes into a broken down car belonging to a local named Bucky (Sam Rockwell), aka The Kid. Al’s boring, joyless existence is about to get very interesting.

Al begrudgingly agrees to tow The Kid’s car home. Once there, Al is anxious to leave, but Bucky passes out so Al is forced to spend the night. A breakfast of milk and Hydrox cookies leads to a fun-filled day for Al and Bucky. Their list of activities include taking a dip in a gorgeous swimming hole, engaging in a tomato fight, and running from the cops. Free-spirited Bucky and by-the-books Al become fast, albeit unlikely, friends. Al’s short stay is extended into a 4th of July vacation as he sheds his rigid ways and injects some much-needed fun into his life.

Box of Moonlight festively illustrates how friendship can result in positive change. Al and Bucky have no friends which enables them to learn much from each other. The Kid shows Al how to cut loose; Al teaches The Kid a little bit of structure goes a long way. Turturro has made a career playing staid characters, but he adds a deadpan goofiness to Al Fountain. Rockwell never fails to impress in his comedic roles. His portrayal of the Davy Crockett attired oddball Bucky The Kid is original and hilarious. Box of Moonlight is an strange little film that will grow on you.

A scene from Box of Moonlight: