Ian (Timothy Hutton) wants to have a day with his mistress Sara (Kristen Bell) but his high-powered lawyer wife Louise (Meg Ryan) surprises him by showing up a day early. He is packing to leave her when she takes him prisoner. She vows to win him over. She lies to Sara about their impending separation and sends her away. While Louise is out, Ian gets the attention of lawnmower Todd (Justin Long). Instead of helping, Todd starts robbing the home.Adrienne Shelly has written a quirky story. However it doesn't have enough comedy and directing novice Cheryl Hines is unable to inject any. Ryan and Hutton are angry but the comedy falls flat. The quirky tone is not funny until the last act when Hutton, Ryan and Bell are locked in the bathroom. It's a little late although it's good to end on a good note. The movie needs to have that tone from the start.

TWO AND A HALF STARS........SERIOUS MOONLIGHT (dir. Cheryl Hines) Ian has grown tired of his wife Louise, decides to quit the marriage, and takes up with a much younger woman. On the eve of his departure, Louise surprises him, learns of his plans, and duct-tapes him to the toilet until she can force him to change his mind. Grating performances and a wholly unrealistic plot-line do nothing to prop up the absurd notion that love can be argued back into a marriage. Astonishingly, this star-crossed domestic partnership rekindles their passion by the end of the film. With a solid re-write this could have become something, however, that is no longer possible. The writer of this film, Adrienne Shelley, was murdered by an intruder in 2006. Her body was hung in the bathroom to appear as a suicide. Unfortunately, that tragic tale would have made a much better movie than SERIOUS MOONLIGHT.

MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD. THE ENDING WILL BE REVEALED. YOU ARE WARNED.Ahem. This clever rom com is virtually a two-character play and most of it transpires in a bathroom. Early on, I began to sense all was not as it seemed. And it's not.Everything in the movie points to it being a set up by Louise. Let's count the ways -- From the moment she arrived at the house, her whole attitude is fake innocent. Any other woman would be suspicious that her husband had strewn rose petals all over the place, but wasn't expecting his wife.Lawn boy shows up oh so conveniently just after Louise goes into town for food.Lawn boy is listening to music on his riding mower and cannot hear hubby's screams for help or banging on the bathroom window. Where does he decide to shut off the mower and remove his head set? Directly beneath the bathroom window.When Louise returns to the house, her confrontation with lawn boy is entirely off camera. We just see the fishbowl smash and hear her screams and see the alarm on hubby's face. It's all an act by Louise and lawn boy.When lawn boy drags Louise into the bathroom, apparently unconscious, and tapes her up, the husband begins his long, tearful confession that he really loves her. Supposedly she is knocked out and not hearing it, but the camera shows close ups of her face. She does not look unconscious. It is strongly hinted she is hearing this.Lawn boy acts all lustful over Louise, even feeling her up when unconscious. Then he turns to hubby and says something like, "How could you not want this?"If you really want to immobilize someone with duct tape, you tape their hands behind their back, not in front.Louise has her hands duct taped in front of her. There are broken mirror shards on the floor. Hello?When husband said he hoped the crooks would not take the heirloom silver set, a red flag went up and I said, they won't. They didn't. What kind of crooks leave behind a chest of silver sitting in plain sight? And what kind of crooks clean the house of loot, then stick around all night to drink and party? Could it be to give Louise more time with her husband? The only question is, how did Louise find out about the affair? And how did she know hubby was going to be at the house a day early, preparing to fly to Paris in the morning with his girlfriend? I guess we just have to go along.As to the final scene, it could have been better. As Louise, her husband and Lawn Boy pass on the street, what if they exchanged knowing glances, but the husband doesn't see and remains clueless. Way cooler, I think.

I loved this movie I found myself wanting to cry and laugh at the same time-I could feel such strong raw emotion from the actors and could definitely identify with their feelings of hate and love and lust all in one situation. It was laugh out loud funny, tender and even a little bit of a tear jerker I watched it with my husband and we were laughing and hugging the whole time. Full of great actors such as Meg Ryan, Justin Long, and Kristen Bell- It was a highly entertaining and heart warming story of a romance lost and found again. I recommend it to families with older (teenage) children as there is a scene with sexually explicit content(no nudity)-though brief and PG13 but still not for kids. and for couples. Its a great movie to watch during an anniversary. Or when you just want to cuddle up on the couch and be romantic. I loved it.