This is one of the most powerful and truthful movies I've ever seen. I love it and I watch it over and over. I love Dianne Keaton and this is one of her greatest roles. The children are just terrific and the emotions portrayed are intense and typical of the situation. I feel that his is a movie that every married couple must see. In an age where divorce is so common and seemingly so easy, Shoot The Moon shows how devastating divorce really can be and usually is! I know this from experience! There are so many unresolved emotions and feelings between two people. And even if there has been an affair a marriage can prevail and two people can emerge stronger for it. The marriage can become much better and more loving and true. The children will benefit from seeing that their parents can work through their problems and come out on the other side. A MUST SEE!

This movie starts very well (and is still worth watching) with its close examination of a domestic breakup. Unfortunately, it goes pear-shaped and slapstick in the second half. It gets 2 extra points for being surprising and unusual.Pauline Kael called this the most revealing movie of its era. What she meant is that it's like ANNIE HALL, ORDINARY PEOPLE, KRAMER VS KRAMER, and all those other Failed Relationship movies merged into one sloppy heap. The only thing that's missing is the drugs-- if you don't count the joint the wife smokes. It goes all over the road trying to hit everything. There's even a courtroom scene. Even Parker must have wondered at times what the writer, Goldman, was trying to do. It rubs you raw and it also makes you giggle. The four adult leads (all veterans) do as good a job as any actors could do with what they are given. And Keaton does an amazing job in the solo bathtub scene where she has to sing and then break down. But even she and Finney look baffled by the restaurant and hospital scenes; they seem to be saying "How do we play this?" The child actors are, sadly because they are good, given the job of either being a bratty chorus or setting up the adults with things no real kid would say. However at one point one of them (they all look alike) is allowed to cut loose and ad lib a Wicked Witch impression while her TV plays the 1939 OZ. It nearly stops the show (it's the best thing in the movie). The ending is actually pretty logical: Goldman had written himself into a corner and how else could he get out?

Well done, realistic film. Though Keaton gives her usual strong performance. And Finney does a good job of acting as the man coming apart (he reminds me of Richard Burton in Night of the Iguana). But the real story here for me was between Dana Hill's character and both her parents. I am not too familiar with Dana Hill, though I somehow recognize her from something. But in this film she does a marvelous job of showing the pain felt by children from parental separation. Another thing about this film is that it somehow really manages to remind me of the late 70s/early 80s. A side note for compaction equipment fans: check out that Dynapac roller!!! No idea which model is being used to compact the tennis court. But it looks like a great machine.

Although the action is sometimes over-the-top and the story at times is lacking in credibility, the acting strikes no false notes, and it is the natural performances that keep this film moving along. Keaton and Finney received Golden Globe nods for their acting, but it is the actresses who play their children who shine. Dana Hill gives off a particularly good performance as the most mature, but yet still fragile, daughter. The acting keeps the film quite engaging, and it is better than the overall product. There is no sense of time, little in the way of character studies, and the simple music score is very ineffective. It is flawed a film, but one that is certainly better than the average film of its type out there.