Though the initial sequence is about people getting ready to go to a funeral, most clichés are avoided. Instead of the usual camera view of the procession of hearses down a long avenue, the focus is on the various slices of life that the cars pass — a baseball game, a wedding, a car wash, an old man in a restaurant. It's a perfect way to capture the essential message that while life has stopped for those who love the deceased, it continues for everyone else.

The person being buried is Diana Floss, the daughter of JoJo (Susan Sarandon) and Ben (Dustin Hoffman) and fiancée of Joe Nast (the ubiquitous Jake Gyllenhaal). Poor Diana was killed when she got in the way of a jealous husband while sitting at a diner counter. It's one of the worst kinds of death — completely unexpected, utterly undeserved, and resulting in all kinds of complicated emotions.

First, there's Joe, who looks like a trapped animal (Gyllenhaal does the look well, but perhaps a little too often). Staying with the Flosses, he's become an honorary child of theirs even though the nuptials never happened. Ben is planning to bring him into the commercial real-estate business, while JoJo dotes on him just like a mother should.

Silberling does something interesting with the two Flosses and their emotions by switching the archetypal roles somewhat. Ben is the "feeler," who always wants to answer the phone or the door when well-wishers come or call, while JoJo is easier to anger, hollering, "We're not home!" when someone rings the bell.

There's a small but important subplot in Moonlight Mile about the case to bring Diana's murder to justice, and Holly Hunter does a lovely job (as always) with her small role as an assistant D.A. named Mona. When she gently asks the couple about their feelings regarding the death penalty, their different responses are perfectly observed and in character.

Luckily, the trial never overwhelms Moonlight Mile because the story wisely centers on the lead trio trying to find their lives again in the midst of impossible circumstances. Joe strikes up a friendship with a postal worker named Bertie (Ellen Pompeo), Ben tries to focus on a major real-estate deal, and JoJo attempts to resume her writing.

Though Moonlight Mile is definitely too long and the ending gets so treacly that viewers may gasp from trying not to cry, there are enough nice moments along the way to ameliorate these flaws. From Sarandon's centered and subtle performance — just marvel at the way she says, "Come back to me" when Ben goes out for a walk after the funeral — to Hoffman's slightly antic emotionality, to Gyllenhaal's careful blend of fear and sadness, this is a triad of powerhouse acting that hasn't been seen since Ordinary People.

Many have commented that Moonlight Mile is based in part on the tragic death of actress Rebecca Schaeffer, who was killed by a stalker while dating Silberling. To his credit, the writer/director manages to avoid the pitfalls that can arise when telling a story so personal. But by writing such a happy ending for all of the characters involved, he subverts his initial thesis of life as messy, chaotic, and churning with inexplicable feelings. The result may be the closure that he needed, but it keeps his film from being as great as it might have been.