Main Cast: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello
Release Year: 1987
Country: US
Run Time: 103 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
When there's a full moon over Brooklyn, anything can happen, and everything happens in the neighborhood where widowed bookkeeper Loretta Castorini (Cher) lives. First, Loretta agrees to marry a man she does not love, Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello), simply because he knows how to propose properly. Before the wedding can take place, Cammareri must visit his dying mother in Sicily. In his absence, Loretta is supposed to try to patch up the differences between Johnny and his brother, bakery operator Ronny Cammareri (Nicolas Cage). Having never forgiven Johnny for indirectly causing the accident that crippled him, Ronny flies into a rage whenever his brother's name is mentioned. He does, however, fall for Loretta like a ton of bricks. After a torrid affair, Loretta tries to avoid Ronny out of respect to Johnny, but he's just too fascinating to resist. Meanwhile, Loretta's father (Vincent Gardenia) is fooling around with his mistress Mona (Anita Gillette), while Loretta's mother (Olympia Dukakis) is wooed by a college professor (John Mahoney). These brief flings are forgiven and forgotten, but there's still the delicate situation of Loretta being in love with her future brother-in-law. A now-classic romantic comedy, Moonstruck won Oscars for Cher, Olympia Dukakis, and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The overused phrase "intoxicating romantic comedy" is undeniably accurate when applied to Moonstruck. The movie that gave Cher an Oscar, it is an unabashedly romantic affair, high on its own brand of wacky ethnicity and sage, voluptuous observations of love and human nature. Aside from being one of Norman Jewison's best-loved films, Moonstruck also featured several of its actors in some of the best performances of their screen careers. In particular, Nicolas Cage's portrayal of wolfish, one-handed Ronny endeared him to legions of female filmgoers who were charmed by his off-kilter charisma, while Cher's portrayal of the weary, practical Loretta established her as a movie star worth watching no matter what the quality of the movie. A great deal of Moonstruck's strength also came from the performances of its supporting actors, with Olympia Dukakis in particular providing gravity and dry wit as the Castorini family matriarch. Moonstruck is an enduring classic, one of the best "date" movies ever made. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Julie Bovasso - Rita Cappomaggi; John Mahoney - Perry; Louis Guss - Raymond Cappomaggi; Feodor Chaliapin, Jr. - Loretta's Grandfather; Anita Gillette - Mona; Amy Aquino - Bonnie; Tony Azito - Cortie; Robin Bartlett - Barbara; Mimi Cecchini - Old Woman; Cynthia Dale - Sheila; Nada Despotovich - Chrissy; Louis di Bianco - Jimmy; Frank Gio - Florist; Joe Grifasi - Shy Waiter; Helen Hanft - Lotte; Tommy Hollis - Parking Attendant; Lisa Howard - Patricia; John Jones - Lowell; Ann McDonough - Nancy; Matt Myers - Cab Driver; Nicholas Pasco - Eddie; Catherine Scorsese - Customer at Bakery; Robert Weil - Bobo; Max Raven - Angry Passenger; David S. Howard - Ira; Al Therrien - Bob
Credit
Barbara Matis - Art Director, Daniel Davis - Art Director, Bonnie Palef-Woolf - Associate Producer, Howard Feuer - Casting, Lofti Travolta - Choreography, Theoni V. Aldredge - Costume Designer, Norman Jewison - Director, Lou Lombardo - Editor, Dick Hyman - Composer (Music Score), Philip Rosenberg - Production Designer, Daniel Davis - Production Designer, David Watkin - Cinematographer, Norman Jewison - Producer, Patrick Palmer - Producer, Lee Rich - Producer, Phil Smith - Set Designer, Dennis L. Maitland - Sound/Sound Designer, John Patrick Shanley - Screenwriter, Mike Harris - Set Dresser
Moonstruck is a 1987romantic comedy film directed by Norman Jewison. The movie was released on December 18, 1987, and earned largely positive reviews from critics. The film went on to gross $80,640,528 at the US box-office alone, making it the 5th highest grossing movie of 1987 at the box office.
This plot summary may be too long or overly detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (November 2009)
The main protagonist is a 37-year-old woman named Loretta Castorini (Cher). She works in a funeral parlour and is a cool and rational woman, usually dressed in neat, sober clothing, who makes and executes carefully detailed plans in both her personal and professional life.
Especially, she manages the life of the 42-year-old Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello) who rather clumsily proposes to her early in the film. She accepts, after making him ask her on his knees.
Johnny, after proposing to Loretta, must visit his dying mother in Italy before their marriage. He leaves her to make all wedding preparations. Loretta's father, Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia) does not approve of the marriage because he believes Loretta has bad luck in marriage (due to the death of her first husband) and because Johnny is a "mama's boy". Her mother, Rose (Olympia Dukakis), does not really care about the marriage, but advises her daughter not to marry someone she loves lest he drives Loretta crazy.
Johnny says that he wants her to talk his younger brother, Ronny (Nicolas Cage) into coming to the wedding. He also warns her that there has been some "bad blood" between the two. She visits Ronny and finds out that Ronny lost his hand, and consequently his fiancée, while slicing bread for his brother, Johnny. While this "bad blood" makes no sense to Loretta, she is taken by Ronny's passionate and poetic ways and offers to make him something to eat. During the meal Loretta makes it clear to Ronny that she thinks the grudge he holds is stupid. Their mutual attraction then takes over and they make love. They wake up later and Loretta feels ashamed of herself. She says she could never see Ronny again and they must never tell anyone what they did, but Ronny is instantly smitten, as is Loretta.
After feeling bad for betraying her fiance, Loretta goes to church and sees her mother Rose praying. Rose indicates to Loretta that she thinks Cosmo might be cheating on her, but Loretta dismisses the suspicion. Ronny asks Loretta her to the opera later that day, promising he'll leave her alone if she agrees, which she does. Loretta dyes her hair and gets a beautiful dress. At the opera, both Loretta and her father Cosmo catch each other being unfaithful. They both agree to go their separate ways and pretend they saw nothing. Walking home, Loretta feels guilty for being with Ronny but he convinces her that there should be no regrets and they should follow their hearts.
Loretta goes home the next morning with love bites on her neck and is shocked by the news that Johnny has returned. His mother has made a miraculous recovery and he has something important to tell Loretta. Ronny then arrives at the house to confront his brother with the fact that he is in love with Loretta. At the same time, Rose confronts Cosmo about his affair, and he agrees to stop seeing his girlfriend. Johnny arrives and shocks the whole family by telling Loretta that he can't marry her. Even though upset, Loretta is relieved because Ronny proves his love to Loretta and everyone else by proposing. Loretta accepts Ronny's proposal and the whole family toasts "Alla famiglia!" (To the family!).
There are numerous subplots woven throughout the film, mostly involving the older members of Loretta's family - who live in a single, enormous house. Loretta's parents, who had married for love but whose marriage is undergoing a deep crisis due to the father's infidelity, and Loretta's paternal grandfather, who always walks the streets with his numerous dogs, sees and knows everything and usually keeps his silence. In addition, there is an uncle and aunt who, in contrast, undergo a kind of "second honeymoon"; and Loretta's mother meets and shares a meal with an American professor with whom she clicks but refuses to see again on the grounds that she's married, although she knows her husband is being unfaithful.
This is the second time that Cher and John Mahoney have starred in a movie together, their first was Suspect that same year.
Gardenia and Dukakis previously appeared in Death Wish (1974).
Cher and Aiello play younger characters; in real-life, she was approximately Johnny Cammareri's age (42), and Aiello was approximately twelve years older (54) than his character.
23-year-old Cage (born 1964) plays a character about fifteen years older than his real age. In real life, he is eighteen years younger than Cher (born 1946) and thirty-one years younger than his on-screen brother Aiello (born 1933).
There is only a fifteen year age difference between Cher and Dukakis (born 1931).
In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Moonstruck was acknowledged as the eighth best film in the romantic comedy genre.[1][2] The film is also number 72 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies," and number 41 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs.
