'Serious Moonlight' has serious problems

Adrienne Shelly deserves better. The writer/director of the irresistibly sweet 2007 comedy "Waitress" was tragically murdered three years ago, cutting short a career filled with promise and goodwill — and leaving behind an unproduced screenplay, "Serious Moonlight." Now, that film finally comes to the big screen, directed by Shelly's friend (and "Waitress" co-star) Cheryl Hines and produced by her husband, Andy Ostroy.

And ... it would be lovely to report that "Serious Moonlight" is a winner. But it's an unfunny black comedy that strains both credibility and patience. Meg Ryan is Louise, a wife who unexpectedly arrives home to find that her husband, Ian (Timothy Hutton), is awaiting his much-younger mistress (Kristen Bell). Enraged, she ties him to the toilet with duct tape as just one step in a questionable process designed to make him love her again. Cue the arrival of the mistress, a gardener and small-time crook (Justin Long), more duct tape, and a lot of screaming.

Is Louise truly insane, or is Ryan — all smiles and giggles and unhinged When-Harry-Got-Mail perkiness — just playing her that way? Did no one think that the intruder's very real menace might bring back terrible thoughts of Shelly's murder (she was killed by a construction worker in her own apartment), or that perhaps this screenplay wasn't ready for unveiling? "Serious Moonlight" is ultimately an ugly experience; let's remember Shelly for finer things than this.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com