Racing with the Moon

1942, a small town in California. Hopper and Nicky will join the Marines in six weeks. In those last weeks they work at the bowling alley, walk the railway line and spend time with the town's girls. Hopper falls for Caddie, whom he takes for rich. Nicky's girlfriend gets pregnant and the two boys have to find a sum of money. The subject is not war but the train at the end of six weeks. Nobody talks about going to the front and everybody knows they are going; the melancholy comes from that silent countdown. The form is period but unshowy: a cemetery, a cinema, a freezing lake. The forties design is not overplayed and the music is used sparingly. The production is one of the films Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage made together early in their careers; neither was known then, and their closeness on set was much recounted afterwards. It is Richard Benjamin's second film as a director. Elizabeth McGovern plays Caddie. Who it is for: viewers who like quiet period coming-of-age drama. Who it is not for: anyone waiting for incident; the film is deliberately small and leaves its ending open.