''Racing with the Moon'' is a 1984 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

starring

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...

Elizabeth McGovern Elizabeth Lee McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American actress and musician. She has received many awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, three Golden Globe Award nominations, and one Academy Award nomination. Born in Evanston, Ill ...

, and

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...

. It was directed by

Richard Benjamin Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known film productions, including ''Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth; ''Catch-22'' (1970), fro ...

and written by Steve Kloves. The original music score was composed by

Dave Grusin Robert David "Dave" Grusin (born June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record w ...

. The film's title derives from the 1941 hit song of the same name by

Vaughn Monroe Vaughn Wilton Monroe (October 7, 1911 – May 21, 1973) was an American baritone singer, trumpeter, big band leader, actor, and businessman, who was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for rec ...

. In 2013, source music and elements of Grusin's score from the film were issued as additional tracks on the CD release of Grusin's music for the soundtrack of '' Heaven Can Wait''. The love theme, "A Secret Place", also appears on two Grusin recordings,

Night Lines ''Night Lines'' was a Canadian radio series, which aired on CBC Stereo from 1984 to 1997.Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, '' Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995''. ECW Press. . The show, which aired on Fr ...

and Now Playing, as well as being the title track of a Grover Washington, Jr. release with Grusin playing piano on the session.

Plot

In 1940s

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish for "of Mendoza) is a county located on the North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,601. The county seat is Ukiah. Mendocino County consists whol ...

, Henry "Hopper" Nash is a small town boy who has been drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps and is about to serve overseas. He is close friends with Nicky, who is also about to be deployed. They have approximately six weeks before shipping out. Henry and Nicky work together at the bowling alley setting pins, buffing lanes, and working the front counter. Henry sees Caddie Winger at the movie theater taking tickets. He is immediately smitten and conspires with a younger boy to give her flowers. Caddie comes to the soda shop where Henry and Nicky are hanging out. Henry jumps over the counter and pretends that he is working. He follows Caddie to her home and discovers that she lives in an elaborate mansion. He assumes that she is a "Gatsby girl" and is therefore rich. As it turns out, Caddie lives there because her mother is a maid. Later, Henry sees Caddie working at the library. He attempts to get her name but she rebuffs him. At the soda shop, Caddie sets Henry up with one of her friends. Henry meets the others at the skating rink and pretends that he knows how to skate. He ends up crashing but in doing so is able to steal some time with Caddie. She agrees to go on a date with Henry and the two quickly become an item. Meanwhile, Nicky's girlfriend, Sally Kaiser, is pregnant with his child. He attempts to get $150 from Henry for an

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

. Henry asks Caddie, whom he assumes can easily afford it. Caddie, in an effort to avoid letting Henry down, attempts to steal a pearl necklace from Alice, a young woman who lives at the house at which Caddie resides. She is caught and confesses the reason she needs the necklace. She ends up borrowing the money from Alice. Sally has the abortion and Henry berates Nicky for not being there for his girlfriend. This causes a brief rift that is mended when each realizes that they need each other in order to handle the difficult transition they are about to make. Henry and Caddie also briefly fall out due to the misunderstanding of her status but reconcile and have an emotional goodbye before he leaves. Ultimately the boys prepare to get on the train taking them away to the war, they wait for it to go by before racing after it and jumping on.

Cast

as Henry "Hopper" Nash *

as Caddie Winger *

as Nicky *

John Karlen John Karlen (born John Adam Karlewicz; May 28, 1933 – January 22, 2020) was an American character actor who played multiple roles on the ABC serial ''Dark Shadows'' on and off from 1967 to 1971. In 1971, Karlen starred as the male lead in ''D ...

as Mr. Nash *

Rutanya Alda Rutanya Alda (born Rūta Skrastiņa; October 13, 1942) is a Latvian-American actress. She began her career in the late 1960s, and went on to have supporting parts in '' The Deer Hunter'' (1978), '' Rocky II'' (1979), and ''Mommie Dearest'' (1981). ...

as Mrs. Nash *

Max Showalter Max Gordon Showalter (June 2, 1917 – July 30, 2000), sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One ...

as Mr. Arthur * Bob Maroff as Al *

Crispin Glover Crispin Hellion Glover (born April 20, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for portraying eccentric characters on screen, such as George McFly in ''Back to the Future'' (1985), Layne in ''River's Edge'' (1986), Andy Warhol in ''The Doors' ...

as Gatsby Boy * Barbara Howard as Gatsby Girl * John Brandon as Mr. Kaiser *

Eve Brent Jean Ann Ewers (September 11, 1929 – August 27, 2011), known professionally as Eve Brent and Jean Lewis, was an American actress known for her role as Jane in '' Tarzan's Fight for Life''. Biography Early years Born as Jean Ann Ewers in Hou ...

as Mrs. Kaiser * Suzanne Adkinson as Sally Kaiser * Shawn Schepps as Gretchen * Charles Miller as Arnie *

Pat Carroll Patricia Ann Carroll (May 5, 1927 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress and comedian. She was known for voicing Ursula in ''The Little Mermaid'' and for appearances in CBS's ''The Danny Thomas Show'', ABC's '' Laverne & Shirley'', and NB ...

as Mrs. Spangler * Al Hopson as Elmer * Scott McGinnis as Michael * Kate Williamson as Mrs. Winger *

Michael Madsen Michael Søren Madsen (born September 25, 1957) is an American actor. He has starred in many films and television series, frequently collaborating with director Quentin Tarantino, most famously in the latter's debut film '' Reservoir Dogs'' (1 ...

as Frank *

Dana Carvey Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, impressionist, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his seven seasons as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1986 to 1993, which earned him fiv ...

as "Baby Face" *

Michael Talbott Michael Talbott (born February 2, 1955) is an American actor. He portrayed Detective Stanley Switek in the crime drama television series ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989). Early life Michael was born on February 2, 1955, in Waverly, Iowa, to parents ...

as Bill *

Carol Kane Carolyn Laurie Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American actress. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as '' Hester Street'' (for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress), ''Dog Day Afternoon'', ''Annie ...

as Annie

Reception

As of July 2018, ''Racing with the Moon'' holds a rating of 60% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 10 reviews. Roger Ebert's 1984 review gave the film a 3.5 star review and lauded Penn's mature and complex performance.

Accolades

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: * 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Racing With The Moon 1984 films 1984 comedy films 1984 drama films 1984 comedy-drama films 1980s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1980s romantic comedy-drama films 1980s teen comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films American teen comedy-drama films Films directed by Richard Benjamin Films scored by Dave Grusin Films set in 1942 Films set in 1943 Films set in California Films set on the home front during World War II Films with screenplays by Steve Kloves Paramount Pictures films Romantic period films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films