When he debuted as a teen via 1979’s Over the Edge, Matt Dillon quickly set into “bad boy” roles. With 1981’s Liar’s Moon, Dillon branched out into a more pure-hearted character.

In small town east Texas circa 1949, Jack Duncan (Dillon) works hard as a blue-collar kid. His life takes a turn when he meets Ginny Peterson (Cindy Fisher), the daughter of wealthy banker Alex (Christopher Connelly).

Even though Alex dated Jack’s mom Ellen (Margaret Blye) in high school, most of the adults involved disapprove of this romance. Jack and Ginny attempt to battle the odds and see their love survive various pressures.

At least as far back as Romeo and Juliet - and probably much farther - we’ve gotten umpteen tales about star-crossed lovers over the years. That means Moon comes with a major obstacle to find something different to do with this well-worn genre.

Alas, it can’t rise to this challenge. While a perfectly competent little period romance, it fails to become anything rich or memorable.

I will say that Dillon does surprisingly well as our earnest lead. Due to movies like My Bodyguard and There’s Something About Mary, I tend to think of him as either the “bad boy” I mentioned earlier, or at least a less than reputable character in his flicks.

Of course, over 40-plus years in movies, Dillon has taken on a wide variety of roles, but those stick in my mind as the “Matt Dillon Personality”. This left noble Jack as a character I saw out of Dillon’s wheelhouse.

Whatever the case, Dillon does fine as Jack. He manages to make the part understated and likable, while he doesn’t overdo the “nice boy from the wrong side of the tracks” elements.

Fisher feels less memorable, but she fulfills her side of the bargain in an appropriate manner. With folks like Hoyt Axton and Broderick Crawford, a good supporting cast adds to the proceedings.

Actors aside, Moon can’t find much to say to keep us interested. Actually, I won’t claim that this turns into a dull movie, as the tale comes with enough charm to ensure we don’t feel an urge to bail.

Nonetheless, Moon lacks the creativity or depth to make it especially compelling, and a loose narrative doesn’t help. While most of the tale focuses on the star-crossed lovers, we get enough useless detours to distract.

In particular, Moon loves semi-pointless excursions into the lives of Jack’s goofball pals Mike (Jim Greenleaf) and Bobby (Mark Atkins). These feel like nothing more organic than the cheap comic relief they attempt to provide.

Moon also lacks much in terms of either passion or dramatic intensity. Jack and Ginny pursue their relationship in the least provocative manner possible, so this leads to a fairly slow, leaden narrative.

Moon tries to spice up matters along the way, with a third act twist that both comes out of nowhere and seems wacky. Whereas this curveball should enliven the tale, instead it just feels like a desperate stab at melodrama.

Maybe if Moon managed some sparks between the main characters, it could generate more interest. As it stands, unfortunately, this winds up as a watchable but dull – and eventually absurd - stab at a romantic drama.

Liar’s Moon appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Expect a pretty mediocre presentation.

Sharpness seemed adequate. The movie brought acceptable delineation but rarely felt better than that, as the image tended to come across as fairly flat.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects appeared, and I noticed no edge haloes. The film came with a healthy layer of grain, but print flaws turned into a distraction, as the movie showed sporadic instances of specks and marks as well as at least one major streak.

Colors went with a dull palette that lacked many chances to shine. Given a semi-green/blue tint, the hues sometimes felt appropriate but they leaned toward a blah impression.

Blacks could seem somewhat inky, but they showed decent depth, and shadows offered adequate clarity, even if they occasionally felt a bit thick. This was a perfectly watchable image but it never fared better than that.

Though the menu promised an LPCM stereo soundtrack, I’ll be hornswoggled if I heard material that made me think we got much more than a monaural mix. Every once in a while, the track manifested some gentle ambience from the sides.

However, these instances failed to do much, and music didn’t show stereo presence either. Maybe this didn’t turn into a literal mono mix, but it sure came awfully close, so don’t expect much from the right and left speakers.

One also shouldn’t anticipate good quality from the audio, as this turned into a problematic mix. Speech tended to seem reedy and edgy, so while I understood the lines, they rarely appeared natural.

Music lacked range and could feel dull. Effects failed to present much dimensionality, and they also came with more than a little distortion. Even by the standards of 1981 audio, this became a subpar soundtrack.

A few extras appear here, and the main attraction comes from The Making of Liar’s Moon. It runs a whopping one hour, 44 minutes, 45 seconds and brings comments from writer Janice Thomson, composer Ray Benson, writer/director David Fisher, executive producer Bill Hanna’s wife Jeanene, production manager Susan Vogelflang, set decorator Maria Caso, and actor Tonja Walker.

“Making” covers the project’s origins and development, story/characters and approach to the material, cast and performances, costumes, hair and period details, constraints of an indie production, editing and music, the movie’s release with two different endings, and general thoughts

We don’t get the most concise view of the production here, as “Making” can feel a bit disjointed and rambling. Still, with so much time at its disposal, we learn a lot about the film, so this becomes a generally good piece.

The Music of Liar’s Moon goes for 13 minutes, 53 seconds and features Benson and Fisher. The composer dominates the reel as he discusses his career and work on the film. Expect another less-than-concise but still informative program.

An Alternate Ending lasts one minute, 57 seconds and shows the darker finale alluded to in the “Making of” program. It’s not more effective but it’s definitely different.

In addition to both theatrical and video trailers for Moon, we get promos for Edmond, Final Jusrice, Dirty Laundry and The Last Time I Committed Suicide.

Another in a long series of stories of star-crossed lovers, Liar’s Moon fails to ignite. The movie moves slowly and lacks anything unusual or intriguing to do with the subject matter. The Blu-ray suffers from problematic picture and audio but it comes with bonus materials highlighted by a long documentary. While it passes the time, Moon becomes a bore too often.