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Perfect cast and a good story

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

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?

Once upon a time, art and literature were judged based upon an ability to make the viewers better people - uplifting literature was considered desirable. Although it has been nearly 25 years since I saw this movie, it sticks with me. It has one of the most realistic portrayals of children of any movie, and presents a picture of the end of a marriage with truth. As trite as it seems, the characters seemed to have gone through the fire and been refined, to have learned a better way of relating. And then there's the last 2 minutes or so. The maturity, the realism are destroyed as a main character inexplicably disintegrates and takes the movie along.Why isn't this movie on DVD? Why don't families watch it together? Why isn't it on anyone's top movies list? Easy. The cheap shot ending.

1982 was arguably one of the greatest film years in recent memory, with releases including "E.T.", "Gandhi," and "Sophie's Choice." Still, I would say that the best film of 1982 - and one of the best films of the 1980's - was "Shoot the Moon." I am not sure exactly why this film never got the acclaim it deserved...certainly there were many great films that year that overshadowed it. Moreover, it might have been too visceral for some...a couple I knew who were previously divorced from other people were extremely offended by the movie, and found it gratuitous.I have only seen two films be successful in making the lead characters so likable in one scene, and then so unlikeable in the next scene. This is one of them (the other one is "Twice in a Lifetime"). Bo Goldman's screenplay is tremendous. Diane Keaton's rendition of "If I Fell" while soaking in the bathtub is one of the most haunting and powerful scenes I have ever seen. Also, the scene towards the end of the movie in the restaurant where Finney and Keaton are loudly arguing with each other to the annoyance of other patrons is extremely well done and enjoyable. I believe most of the scene is done in a long take. On regular TV, that scene is butchered due to the language, and they show cut-aways to other patrons to get away with that.It's been more than 20 years since "Shoot the Moon" was released, and I'm not sure what I could say that would motivate someone to see this film for the first time. But it truly is great. Pauline Kael thought so too, and I'm sure she will carry much more weight with movie fans than me!

Shoot the Moon (1982) Dir: Alan Parker Co-starring with Albert Finney, Diane Keaton plays a woman going through the throes of a bad divorce. Another chance for Keaton to broaden her artistic repertoire and she makes the most of it. The movie is right on the money and never goes for the easy pat way out of a dramatic situation. It's an overlooked film that is truly moving. Finney, for a change, earns his reputation as one of the best actors out there. The ending is the only place in the movie, where the writers chose to play it safe. But other than that, the characters and situations are true-to-life, showing people in all their complicated messy best. Definitely watch it with a box of kleenex.