Gee, what do you do if your fiancé is murdered just weeks before your scheduled wedding? That’s the dilemma facing Joe, a “nice guy” played by Jake Gyllenhaal. Well, it’s actually a bit more complicated than that.

Joe is living with the dead girl’s parents, a couple named Ben and JoJo Floss. They are played by Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon. Ben and JoJo like having Joe around. He’s a reminder of their beloved daughter. Ben has even made Joe a business partner in his commercial real estate venture. The problem is – what does Joe want? He’s too nice a guy to say what he is really feeling, or for that matter what he really knows for fear it will upset the grieving parents. Because of that, Joe spends most of the movie looking uncomfortable and unhappy. This is why I figured they cast Jake Gyllenhaal in the part. I have never seen an actor who can look more sad and awkward. The guy’s got those big, sorry eyes that work almost too well.

Basically this means Joe literally runs out of many scenes because he can’t handle it. After a while it gets tiring. What is it Joe? Spit it out. He eventually meets a young postal worker with problems of her own who gets him to do just that. Her name is Bertie and she has grief issues too.

This is one of those “bittersweet” movies. The plot revolves around a dead woman, but there are plenty of moments of comic relief. Some work, some don’t. The dead woman’s friends show up to pick through her clothes – that’s pretty funny. The dog pukes on annoying guests at the funeral lunch. Not bad – we probably all wish we could barf on annoying people.

But do we have to have the scene where Ben finally doesn’t have to answer the phone? It’s a running gag because Ben always answers the phone – but now as he has finally come to terms with his daughters death, he simply can let it ring. I’m sorry, that’s too easy and too lazy a scene. You might also find it odd that the parents don’t care what happens to the guy who murdered their daughter – it’s all part of the “getting over” it phase, you see.

In the end, “Moonlight Mile” is a pretty emotional ride with Joe at the controls and avoids most of the manipulative traps. I give it a “7.0” on the scale.