Mystic Pizza
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Mystic Pizza
Plot
Three teenagers learn a lot about life and love one summer in this romantic comedy-drama. Kat (Annabeth Gish), Daisy (Julia Roberts), and Jojo (Lili Taylor) are three working-class women just out of high school who have jobs at the same pizza parlor in the resort community of Mystic, Connecticut. Kat wants to study astronomy at Yale; when she starts baby-sitting for Tim (William R. Moses), a wealthy Yale graduate summering in Mystic, she finds herself falling in love with him, even though he's married and nearly twice her age. Daisy, who isn't sure what she wants from life, starts going with Charlie (Adam Storke), a recent law school dropout, though she starts to think that it may be more to rebel against her family than out of genuine affection. And Jojo is attracted to Bill (Vincent D'Onofrio), but she doesn't want to get married (she's already left him at the altar once); when Bill announces that he's no longer willing to have sex without marriage, she has to decide if his affections are worth a lifetime commitment. Conchata Ferrell appears in a supporting role as Leona, the proprietor of the pizza parlor, who zealously guards the secret formula of her sauce. ~ Mark Deming, RoviReview
Her first major film role didn't make Julia Roberts a star, but Mystic Pizza did make great use of the actress' earthy sensuality and onscreen charisma. Playing one of a trio of working-class young women in coastal New England, Roberts provided the va-va-voom to Lili Taylor's quirkiness and Annabeth Gish's quiet intensity. Decidedly matriarchal and working-class in its depictions of these young characters' lives, the film uses the pizza parlor of kindly Leona (Conchata Ferrell) as a symbol of both the bond of female friendship and the joys and limitations of life in a seaside resort town. Mystic Pizza splits its storytelling time equally between the romantic entanglements of its three heroines, but a subtle class consciousness colors even these stock scenarios: Kat (Gish) glimpses the dissatisfactions of Ivy League privilege in the marriage of her wealthy boss; Daisy (Roberts) has to reconcile her boyfriend's blue-blooded loafing with her own hard-working existence; and Jojo (Taylor) has to choose between a comfortable marriage and an uncertain future. Alternately cheery, somber, and melodramatic, the sometimes uneven Mystic Pizza nonetheless serves up an engaging, if misty-eyed, slice of small-town life. ~ Brian J. Dillard, RoviCast
- Annabeth Gish - Kat Araujo
- Julia Roberts - Daisy Araujo
- Lili Taylor - Jojo Barboza
- Vincent D'Onofrio - Bill Montijo
- William R. Moses - Tim Travers
Credit
Mark Haack - Art Director, Jane Jenkins - Casting, Janet Hirshenson - Casting, Jennifer Von Mayrhauser - Costume Designer, Mark A. Radcliffe - First Assistant Director, Donald Petrie - Director, Don Brochu - Editor, Marion Rothman - Editor, Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. - Executive Producer, Susan Vogelfang - Line Producer, David McHugh - Composer (Music Score), Steve Tyrell - Musical Direction/Supervision, Brad Fiedel - Songwriter, Frankie Previte - Songwriter, Steven Frank - Makeup, Nan Piascik - Makeup, Vera Yurtchuk - Makeup, David Chapman - Production Designer, Tim Suhrstedt - Cinematographer, Scott Rosenfelt - Production Manager, Mark Levinson - Producer, Scott Rosenfelt - Producer, Susan Vogelfang - Producer, Clay Griffith - Set Designer, Mark Haack - Set Designer, Ken Levin - Special Effects, Russell Fager - Sound/Sound Designer, Amy Jones - Screen Story, Perry Howze - Screenwriter, Randy Howze - Screenwriter, Amy Jones - Screenwriter, Alfred Uhry - Screenwriter, Joanne Pagliaro - Screenwriter, Norval D. Crutcher Jr. - Supervising Sound Editor| Mystic Origins of the Martial Arts (Film), Mystic Moves: Bellydance Technique & Combinations with Ava Fleming (2012 Film) | |
| Mystic River (2003 Film), Mystic Spirits (Film) |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Mystic Pizza
| Mystic Pizza | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Donald Petrie |
| Produced by | Mark Levinson |
| Written by | Amy Holden Jones Perry Howze Randy Howze Alfred Uhry |
| Starring | Annabeth Gish Julia Roberts Lili Taylor Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio William R. Moses Adam Storke Conchata Ferrell |
| Music by | David McHugh |
| Cinematography | Tim Suhrstedt |
| Editing by | Don Brochu Marion Rothman |
| Distributed by | The Samuel Goldwyn Company |
| Release date(s) | October 21, 1988 |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6 million |
| Box office | $12,793,213 |
Mystic Pizza is a 1988 American coming of age film directed by Donald Petrie and starring Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, and Lili Taylor.[1] Vincent D'Onofrio, William R. Moses, Adam Storke, and Conchata Ferrell co-star. In his screen debut, Matt Damon has a small part—his sole line in the film being, "Mom, do you want my green stuff?" while eating lobster.
The title of the film was based on a pizza shop that caught the eye of Hollywood screen writer, Amy Holden Jones.[2] The restaurant is also named Mystic Pizza in Mystic, Connecticut, and has been popular among both locals and tourists since 1973.[3]
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Contents
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Plot
The film is about the coming of age of two sisters and their friend through the romantic lives of the three main characters: Kat Araujo (Annabeth Gish), Daisy Araujo (Julia Roberts), and Jojo Barbosa (Lili Taylor), who are waitresses at Mystic Pizza in Mystic, Connecticut. In the film, Mystic is represented as a fishing town with a large Portuguese American population.
The film also touches on an Old World work ethic. Kat and Daisy are sisters and rivals: Kat studies astronomy, works at a local planetarium, as well as the restaurant, and has been accepted to attend Yale University on a partial scholarship. Daisy just wants to find love through lust while trying to get out of Mystic. Kat is the apple of her Portuguese mother's eye, while Daisy is not: she is promiscuous and is not as goal-oriented as her younger sister.
There is also a dynamic between Kat's Anglo-American employer and the resulting relationship between them. The class distinctions and variant European heritages are explored in various scenes of the film.
Cast
- Annabeth Gish as Kat Araujo
- Julia Roberts as Daisy Araujo
- Lili Taylor as Jojo Barboza
- Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio as Bill
- William R. Moses as Tim Travers
- Adam Storke as Charles Gordon Windsor, Jr.
- Conchata Ferrell as Leona
- Joanna Merlin as Mrs. Araujo
- Porscha Radcliffe as Phoebe Travers
- Arthur Walsh as Manny
- John Fiore as Jake
- Matt Damon as Steamer
Critical response
The film opened on October 21, 1988, to mostly favorable reviews, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 88% at its VHS release.[4] The film received "two thumbs up" from popular film critics Siskel and Ebert,[5] giving particular praise to the three female leads, including Gish, whom Ebert likened to a "young Katharine Hepburn."[6] He also noted that the film "may someday become known for the movie stars it showcased back before they became stars."
Home media
On January 13, 2009, Mystic Pizza and Say Anything... were released as double feature on DVD.[7]
References in popular culture
- In the 30 Rock season two premiere episode, "SeinfeldVision," the character Jenna Maroney returns from summer break having starred in Mystic Pizza: The Musical. Her noticeable weight gain is attributed to eating 32 slices of pizza a week for the show.
- In one sub-plot of the Broken Lizard film, Puddle Cruiser, the main characters watch the film believing that Julia Roberts gets naked in it.
- Pepperidge Farm Goldfish snacks are packaged with biographical details of mascot Finn, including his favorite film, Optimistic Pizza.
- In Cougar Town, Laurie compares herself to Julia Roberts from Mystic Pizza when she visits the country club.
- In the episode "Run Away, Little Boy" of Gilmore Girls, Paris (played by Liza Weil) compares the "whole small town, 'we don't let a clock run our lives' thing" from Stars Hollow with Mystic Pizza.
- In the Facebook game "Café World", there is a dish that players can cook called "Mystical Pizza".
- In The Lonely Island song "No homo", it is mentioned that knowing all the lines of Mystic Pizza is not homo.
- In the TV series Parks and Recreation, the character Ron Swanson only knows Julia Roberts as "the toothy girl from Mystic Pizza".
References
- ^ Variety film review; 12 October 1988
- ^ http://www.epixhd.com/mystic-pizza/
- ^ http://www.mysticpizza.com/about_us.aspx
- ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mystic_pizza/
- ^ http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/atm/reviews.html?sec=1&subsec=48
- ^ "Mystic Pizza". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19881021/REVIEWS/810210303/1023.
- ^ "Mystic Pizza/Say Anything Double Feature (2009)". http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810047826/details. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
External links
- Mystic Pizza at the Internet Movie Database
- Mystic Pizza at AllRovi
- Mystic Pizza at Box Office Mojo
- Mystic Pizza at Rotten Tomatoes
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