Moonstruck

Moonstruck
Theatrical release poster by Olga Kaljakin
Directed by	Norman Jewison
Produced by	Norman Jewison Patrick Palmer
Written by	John Patrick Shanley
Starring	Cher Nicolas Cage Olympia Dukakis Vincent Gardenia Danny Aiello
Music by	Dick Hyman
Cinematography	David Watkin
Editing by	Lou Lombardo
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	December 16, 1987 (1987-12-16) (New York) December 18, 1987 (1987-12-18) (United States)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Italian
Box office	$156,239,800

Moonstruck is a 1987 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Jewison. It stars Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia, and Olympia Dukakis.

The film was released on December 16, 1987 in New York City, and then nationally on December 18, 1987, receiving largely positive reviews from critics. It went on to gross $91,640,528 at the North American box office, making it the fifth highest-grossing film of that year.

Moonstruck was nominated for six Oscars at the 60th Academy Awards, winning three for Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress.

Plot

37-year-old Loretta Castorini (Cher) is an accountant for a few local businesses in Brooklyn Heights, New York. Her boyfriend, Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello), proposes to her before leaving for Italy to attend to his dying mother, and asks Loretta to invite his estranged younger brother Ronny (Nicolas Cage) to the wedding. Loretta visits the bakery where Ronny works and finds that he blames Johnny for an accident in which he lost his hand, which led to his fiancée leaving him. They end up in his apartment above the bakery and make love. In the morning, Loretta feels ashamed but Ronny admits to falling in love with her. He agrees to not see her again if she goes to the opera with him that night.

That night, Loretta's mother Rose (Olympia Dukakis) dines alone at a restaurant and witnesses a dramatic breakup between a young coed and a college professor named Perry (John Mahoney). She invites Perry to dine with her; afterwards he walks her home. She knows her husband has a mistress but refuses to be unfaithful and doesn't take Perry's suggestion that she invite him in. While Loretta is at the opera, she sees her father Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia) with his mistress; they agree to pretend they did not see each other. Loretta feels guilty for being with Ronny, but he persuades her into another tryst. When she comes home the following morning, her mother tells her that Johnny has come back from Italy and will be visiting that morning. While she waits, Ronny comes over and both her father and grandfather come down for breakfast. Rose tells Cosmo she wants him to stop seeing his mistress.

Johnny arrives and claims that he can't marry Loretta or his mother will die. Loretta throws the engagement ring at him. Seizing the moment, Ronny ask Loretta to marry him; he borrows Johnny's ring and Loretta accepts. The family shares a bottle of champagne to celebrate.

Cast

• Cher as Loretta Castorini
• Nicolas Cage as Ronny Cammareri
• Olympia Dukakis as Rose Castorini
• Vincent Gardenia as Cosmo Castorini
• Danny Aiello as Mr. Johnny Cammareri
• Julie Bovasso as Rita Cappomaggi
• Louis Guss as Raymond Cappomaggi
• John Mahoney as Perry
• Feodor Chaliapin, Jr., as Loretta's grandfather

Box office

On its wide release, the film opened at #3 and spent 20 nonconsecutive weeks in the top 10 and finally grossed $80,640,528. The movie also grossed $34,393,000 in rentals and grossed a total of $115,033,528 in the US alone.

Awards and honors

Awards
Award	Category	Name	Outcome
Academy Awards	Best Actress	Cher	Won
	Best Supporting Actress	Olympia Dukakis	Won
	Original Screenplay	John Patrick Shanley	Won
	Best Picture		Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Vincent Gardenia	Nominated
	Best Director	Norman Jewison	Nominated
Berlin Film Festival	Silver Bear for Best Director	Norman Jewison	Won
British Academy Film Awards	Best Actress	Cher	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Olympia Dukakis	Won
	BAFTA Award for Best Film Music	Dick Hyman	Nominated
	BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay	John Patrick Shanley	Nominated
Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress	Cher	Won
	Best Supporting Actress	Olympia Dukakis	Won
	Best Picture - Musical or Comedy		Nominated
	Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	Nicolas Cage	Nominated
	Best Screenplay	John Patrick Shanley	Nominated
Writers Guild of America	Best Original Screenplay	John Patrick Shanley	Won

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. The film is also number 72 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies," and number 41 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs.

American Film Institute recognition

• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies - Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs - #41
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions - #17
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs:
  • That's Amore - Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes:
  • "Snap out of it!" - #96
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) - Nominated
• AFI's 10 Top 10 - #8 Romantic Comedy

Influential film critic Roger Ebert entered the film to his "Great Movies" collection in June 2003.

External links

• Moonstruck at the Internet Movie Database
• Moonstruck at Box Office Mojo
• Moonstruck at Rotten Tomatoes

Awards
Preceded by Network	Academy Award winner for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress	Succeeded by The Piano