Racing with the Moon

Cute flick ...... young love and life in the early 40's.....

A beautifully shot & directed film by Richard Benjamin, RACING WITH THE MOON stars a young Sean Penn, Nicolas Cage and, in what has turned out to be a disappointingly rare occurrance, a perfectly cast Elizabeth McGovern as Penn's love interest.Set in the WWII era, this is a coming-of-age flick with Penn & Cage playing out the string, as it were, prior to each joining the military for a stint fighting the Nazis. While I'm not a big fan of either Penn or Cage, this movie finds their performances disarmingly unaffected and sprinkled with the luminescent fairy dust we all knew once upon a time as youth.Without giving away the whole story, Penn & McGovern fall for each other, leading (in a roundabout way) to a falling out for best friends Penn & Cage. Penn thinks McGovern the Rich Girl on the Hill - in truth, she's the daughter of the rich family's maid - and the ensuing confusion leads to a brief parting of the two young lovers who, once all the red tape is straightened out, fall back madly into love - just in time for Penn's (and Cage's) departure for boot camp. Penn & Cage bury their hatchets, too, as the realization hits them both that they may never see each other again once they head overseas.Benjamin's airbrushed mid-20th Century Southern California only adds to the dreamlike quality of this movie; it is sweet without the sap; poignant without the mush. And McGovern turns in a beautiful performance as the template for every male teen's first love: Pretty - but not gorgeous; coy - but not teasingly so.This movie probably serves best as a reminder to us all of what we once were: Young, innocent & in love - and one big step from having all that change. In RACING WITH THE MOON, the catalyst for the big change comes in the form of Penn & Cage's impending entry into the war - and a very uncertain adulthood.

The movie takes on a humane sentimental feel to it. I was taken aback to see Sean Penn's performance in this movie. It's just one of the best movies from the 80s.However I wished I knew the fate of the characters.

My roommates a big fat guy and has 4x bigger boobs than Elizabeth McGovern! Have you been to beach recently? Men have bigger "breasts"than women. Yes, the movie was about two dunk scoundrels. But they were 19 year olds! Every been to a college campus on Friday night? Yes They were two scoundrels--but not worse then Ted Kennedy. Seriously. This is a great coming-of-age film about two young guys headed off to WWII. Statistically, the corageous men who left for WW2 had a huge chance of not coming back! That's what this movie is about. Nick Cage is the drunk scoundrel but Sean Penn sees the bigger picture. I could go on.... but good for the people who gave this movie the credit it deserved.

This is certainly not the first, nor the last, film to be made about a couple of teenage guys in the last few weeks before they ship off to WW2. The acting is good all around, and you do get a flavor of small towns during that time. On the negative side, the plot is uninspired with little to distinguish it from other films of this type. It is just not a big crisis that he mistakenly thinks his girlfriend is rich, and she is not. So playing on this angle falls kinda flat.

not convinced Sean Penn is the best dramatic actor for that role. His half-lid expressions and empathy for the female is the true work of a dramatic actor. do not believe he cares in real life for the feelings of the woman...Nicolas Cage, good!

It's an old Nic Cage and Sean Penn buddy film about two small town friends in the lead-up to joining the Marines for WWII.There is a nice billiards hustle scene but, by and large, it's a 1980's chatfest that's overly boring. Talk, talk, talk. There is just too much talk. Thought these guys would never go in the Marine Corps and was glad when they finally did.Not our favorite 1980's film by a long-shot and not a top film for either Cage or Penn. Watch if you just must see every Cage or Penn film out there.

Before Elizabeth McGovern was Cora, Lady Grantham, before Sean Penn tied Madonna to a chair and interviewed an escaped drug lord, before Nicholas Cage got weird -- they were all in this movie, about two young men in coastal California about to ship out as Marines in WWII. Henry Nash, son of a grave digger, falls for Caddie. He believes she is wealthy, since she lives in a mansion, not knowing that her mother is the maid. They fall in love. When his friend Nicky's girlfriend becomes pregnant, he asks her for the money for an abortion. Caddie doesn't want him to know that her mother is a maid, so she gets the money from the daughter of the house.

All i can say is that it was worth the 6 years of tracing it down. I wasn't born when it came out and it is a great film

I saw this movie when I was a young teen and really enjoyed it. This was the first time that I have seen it since and was reminded of what a sweet coming of age romance it was. The main actors were wonderful and based on this movie it is little surprise that they went on to become very successful. The movies shows the challenges of growing up during the war (No war or graphic war scenes in movie), first love and making painful decisions. It shows the differences between when you have money and are poor and how that alters your choices. It moves at a pretty good pace and Sean and Elizabeth and wonderful together. I believe you would really enjoy this movie.

Arrived promptly and well packaged but just haven't got around to watching it yet.Saw this on video about 30 years ago and loved it. Never seen it shown on tv so bought it so after all these years could watch again - lets hope not disappointed and I've not been wearing rose tinted specs all this while !Price fluctuates a lot on this item I've noticed.Just hope my copy is okay to watch - fingers crossed.

ショーンの作品の中で一番好きな作品。ずっとDVD化を待ち望んでいました。やっと願いが叶いました。何度見てもかっこいい！！！！！！！！！！！！今の渋いショーンもいいけど、若いころも素敵です。