Once upon a time, before Sarah, Jennifer and Claire, before Winona and Samantha, even before Molly, Ally and Mary, (but after Brooke), there was Diane Lane. After landing on the cover of Time Magazine at the grand old age of 16, the talented teen actress found herself cast in such seminal works as "The Outsiders", "Rumble Fish" and "The Cotton Club" before stumbling badly with the Walter Hill "rock and roll fable" misfire "Streets of Fire". From there on, she's been stuck in horrifyingly bad movies ("Jack", "Knight Moves", "Murder at 1600". "Judge Dredd"), waiting for her redemption.

In Pearl Kantrowitz, the dissatisfied housewife at the heart of "A Walk on the Moon", Lane finally has a chance to remind everyone of what a talent she possesses. Debut director Tony Goldwyn (yes, of that Goldwyn family) has taken Pamela Gray's keenly observed and thoughtfully written script and turned it into a piquant, often poignant, film about the difference between growing up and growing old, all the while struggling for love.

In the summer of 1969, Pearl and her husband Marty (Liev Schreiber) pack up their kids, teenage Alison (Anna Paquin) and todler Bobby, and head up to the Catskill mountains along with Marty's mother Lilian in tow. Married in their teens due to an unplanned pregnancy with Alison, Pearl has often wondered if her life might have turned out differently. Still in love with Marty, but yearning for something different, new and exciting, Pearl finds an opportunity to explore when Marty is called back to New York where he has a pile of TVs to fix because the nation clamors to see the first moonwalk. Alone and bored, Pearl drifts into a casual relationship with Walker Jerome (Viggo Mortensen), the travelling blouse salesman, whose neo-hippie attitudes and promise of adventure sound like music to her ears. Soon, Lilian comes to know of the affair, as does a hurt and frightened Alison and a distraught Marty, and Pearl has to come to terms with the choices she's made for her life, and decide where the future - in the aftermath of Woodstock and a moon walk - will lead her.

Sensitively realized, "A Walk on the Moon" is an unambitious but moving film about characters and their lives. This is the kind of small, personal film that first time directors handle so well. For Tony Goldwyn, the material no doubt presented a challenge since he is neither Jewish nor did he grow up anywhere near the east cost. However, he has managed to capture the mood of the era and the uncertainty and excitement of the time exceptionally well. His treatment of Pamela Gray's carefully written script - admirable in its restraint, intelligence and understanding of its characters and their motivations - is polished and bodes well for his future efforts behind the lense.

Most of all, Goldwyn has drawn a handful of very fine performances from his cast. As indicated above, Lane finally has a meaty role to showcase her talents, and she brings an enigmatic depth to Pearl's ambivalence toward her life and makes her confusion and yearning palpably real to the audience. This performance calls to mind Lane's brilliant turn as Cherry in "The Outsiders", where she played a good girl wanting, but not daring, to be bad - the motivations and character arcs are similar and Lane delivers a subtle and elegant turn. Again cast as the troubled daughter, Oscar-winner Anna Paquin has matured into a nuanced teen performer who brings a level of honesty to her characterization of angst and longing. Viggo Mortensen tries hard to overcome the limits of his "fantasy man" role, and succeeds occasionally, but it is Liev Schreiber who is the film's best find. Given his best role since his appearance as the phone sex addict in "Denise Calls Up", Schreiber shares an easy chemistry with Lane, and mines the innate goodness of Marty's heart for maximum effect - his scenes are some of the most believable and engrossing in the film.

Unlike many period films which seem manifestly fake and forced, "A Walk on the Moon" effortlessly captures the 60s and one woman's awakening and wavering amidst those turbulent times. That charming realism, combined with a powerhouse cast performing at peak prowess, and a confident director working from a beautifully written script, makes this a lovely, mesmerizing film.

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© Copyright 1999. If you've got anything to add, write me at terrybrogan@hotmail.com. Or don't. Whatever.