It was the final film directed by Robert Mulligan before his death in 2008, from a screenplay written by Jenny Wingfield.

It stars Reese Witherspoon in her film debut, Sam Waterston, Tess Harper, Emily Warfield, and Jason London.

The film’s story, set in rural 1950s Louisiana, centers around Dani (Witherspoon), a 14-year-old tomboy who experiences first love and heartbreak when older boy Court (London) moves next door.

In the summer of 1957, Danielle "Dani" Trant is a 14-year-old girl in Louisiana who is close to her older sister, the college-bound Maureen.

Dani is expected to help take care of younger sister Missy as their mother Abigail is pregnant, but she prefers to run off to the neighbor's creek to go skinny dipping.

Abigail's old friend turns out to be Marie Foster, a widow who has moved back to the area with her three sons, revealed to be Court and his younger brothers.

Dani's father Matthew races her to the hospital, where she is kept in order to treat a concussion and toxemia caused by her fall.

While Dani visits her mother in the hospital, Court shows up at the Trant house where Maureen is babysitting Missy.

Aware of her sister's feelings for Court, Maureen is initially reluctant to return his affections but ultimately gives in when he kisses her.

Dani is seen running through the woods when she stumbles upon Court badly injured in the field being cradled by his inconsolable mother.

Matthew tells Dani that although she has a right to be hurt, being mad won't bring Court back, and Maureen will be her sister for life.

The website's consensus reads: "It's sentimental, and some viewers may feel manipulated by the melodramatic final act, but The Man in the Moon offers a finely drawn coming-of-age story with an excellent cast—including Reese Witherspoon in her film debut.

"[4] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Maslin also wrote, "Mr. Mulligan also gets an outstandingly natural performance out of Miss Witherspoon, who has no trouble carrying a lot of the film single-handedly.

8 in his Top 10 list of the best films of 1991,[7] declaring:Nothing else [Mulligan] has done... approaches the purity and perfection of The Man in the Moon.

As the film approached its conclusion without having stepped wrong once, I wondered whether he could do it - whether he could maintain the poetic, bittersweet tone, and avoid the sentimentalism and cheap emotion that could have destroyed this story.

[10] Later, Mulligan became disenchanted with how the film was edited and cut by airlines, particularly American and Delta Air Lines, for in-flight showings.