Themes: Women's Friendship, First Love, Sibling Relationships
Main Cast: Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, Lili Taylor, Vincent D'Onofrio, William R. Moses
Release Year: 1988
Country: US
Run Time: 101 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
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, All Movie Guide
Review
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, All Movie Guide
Adam Storke - Charles Gordon Winsor; Conchata Ferrell - Leona Valsouano; Joanna Merlin - Mrs. Arujo; Gene Amoroso - Mr. Ed Barboza; John Cunningham - Mr. Windsor; Matt Damon - Steamer; John Fiore - Jake; Al Hodgkins - Priest; Keith Jochim - Tourist #2; Porscha Radcliffe - Phoebe Travers; Suzanne Shepherd - Aunt Tweedy; Louis Turenne - Everyday Gourmet; Janet Zarish - Nicole; Ray Zuppa - Mitch; Marrisa Carey - Flower Girl; Ann Flood - Polly Windsor; Wiley Moore - Newscaster; Jody Raymond - Teresa; Lew Resseguie - Maitre D'; Arthur Walsh - Manny
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
The film is about the coming of age of two sisters and their friend, as seen through the romantic lives of the three main characters: Kat, Daisy, and Jojo, who all work as waitresses at Mystic Pizza in Mystic, Connecticut. Mystic in the film is represented as a fishing town with a large Portuguese American population, though that description more closely resembles neighboring Stonington, Connecticut, where many scenes were filmed.
The movie also touches on an Old World work ethic. Kat and Daisy are sisters and rivals; the former studies astronomy, works at a local planetarium, as well as the restaurant, and has been accepted to attend Yale University, while the latter just wants to have fun. 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.
The title of the film was based on a pizza shop that caught the eye of Hollywood screen writer, Amy Holden Jones. A restaurant named Mystic Pizza in Mystic, Connecticut has become popular among summer tourists due to the film's success.
Critical Reception
The film opened on October 21, 1988 to mostly favorable reviews, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 88% at its DVD release.[1] The film received "two thumbs up" from popular film critics Siskel and Ebert,[2] giving particular praise to the three female leads, including Gish, whom Ebert likened to a "young Katharine Hepburn."[3] 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.[4]
References in popular culture
In the 30 Rock season two premiere 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 a later episode, she wins a (fake) award for Best Actress in a Movie based on a Musical based on a Movie.
In one sub-plot of the Broken Lizard's 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 movie: Optimistic Pizza.
