Advertisement

Movies & TV News & Features

Moon Point

MOON POINT (Sean Cisterna). Screens today (Thursday, February 2) at the Royal, then opens February 3 at the Yonge & Dundas 24. See times. Rating: NN


Moon Point isn’t the first coming-of-age road movie about a traumatized young man drawn out of his shell by his weird best friend and a fetching young stranger. But it’s the first one that thinks the weird best friend should be the star.

That’d be Darryl Strozka (Nick McKinlay), a 24-year-old nothing whose idea of a job is helping his wheelchair-bound buddy, Femur (Kyle Mac), with his paper route.

When Darryl learns that his childhood best friend, TV star Sarah Cherry (Kristen Gutoskie), is shooting her first movie in nearby Moon Point, he ropes Femur into driving him there in his souped-up scooter. Along the way, they run into a young woman (Paula Brancati) who joins them on the journey.

Director Sean Cisterna and screenwriter Robert Lazar never decide what sort of movie they’re making. The tone changes with each scene, veering from gentle absurdism to broad comedy to even broader comedy. (The impressive supporting cast, which includes Jessica Holmes, Christian Potenza, Art Hindle and Jayne Eastwood, all overplay their roles in different directions.)

Things improve considerably in the second half, when Cisterna pulls off a rousing karaoke sequence to Home For A Rest and Mac and Brancati develop their characters in a couple of well-played scenes. But their story keeps getting shoved aside so Cisterna and Lazar can give more time to the jerk they think is the hero.

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.