Moonlight and Valentino holds within its warm embrace the trials and tribulations, joys and rewards of being a modern woman. When Rebecca (Elizabeth Perkins) loses her husband in a tragic accident, her sister (Gwyneth Paltrow), her stepmother (Kathleen Turner), and her best friend (Whoopi Goldberg) are there to usher her through the various stages of grief.

Along the way, they share their own personal struggles with self-esteem, getting along with other people, and surviving a marriage under siege. Ellen Simon's screenplay gives sisterhood a good name as these feisty, funny, and caring woman work through their troubles together. Rock star Jon Bon Jovi has some fine moments on screen as an amorous house painter who has a role to play in helping Rebecca release the last vestiges of her grief and guilt. David Anspaugh's light touch as director comes across in a triumphant closing sequence where these four women share secrets, shed their fears, and bond together in a graveyard ritual of purgation and renewal. Moonlight and Valentino is one of the best films of 1995.