Review of Moonstruck (1987) by Sofia C — 27 Mar 2011

3.5/4.0.

Now that's what I call I feel good movie. "Moonstruck" is one of Hollywood's best romantic comedies that sports a flawless and funny ensemble cast as well as a sharp and funny Oscar winning original script (by John Patrick Shanley). The moon as a symbol of love is a motif throughout the movie from the opening sequences that feature Dean Martin's "That's Amore".

Set in Brooklyn, the movie centers on Loretta Castorini (Cher who is very good but not great in her Oscar winning role), a 37-year-old freelance accountant widow who believes she is unlucky. Her boyfriend Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello) proposes right before he travels to Italy for his dying mother. Before he leaves, he asks her to go and invite his estranged younger brother Ronny (Nicolas Cage) to their wedding. Ronny is a wild charmer who owns a bakery and lost his hand in a bread slicer blaming it on his brother. Despite getting off to a wrong start, the two fall for each other.

The romance between the two leads is utterly charming but the real great bits of the movie are in its insight into the close-knit Italian American families. Loretta lives with her parents and dog loving grandfather. Her father Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia) is a well-off plumber who is secretly cheating. But it is Olympia Dukakis who steals the show in her Oscar winning turn as Loretta's wisecracking housewife mother Rose who senses her husband is cheating. There is a great scene that is a real delight where she goes to have dinner at a restaurant (the same one her daughter gets proposed to at) alone and ends up with a college professor (John Mahoney) who consistently has bad dates with his students. The scene is a marvel as well as the finale at the Castorini kitchen! Winner of 3 Oscars and nominated for 3 others: Picture, Director (Norman Jewison), Supporting Actor (Gardenia).