Moonstruck

Moonstruck
Theatrical release poster by Olga Kaljakin
Directed by	Norman Jewison
Written by	John Patrick Shanley
Produced by	Norman Jewison Patrick Palmer
Starring	Cher Nicolas Cage Olympia Dukakis Vincent Gardenia Danny Aiello
Cinematography	David Watkin
Edited by	Lou Lombardo
Music by	Dick Hyman
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates	December 16, 1987 (1987-12-16) (New York) December 18, 1987 (1987-12-18) (United States)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	English Italian
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$91,640,528

Moonstruck is a 1987 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Jewison and written by John Patrick Shanley. 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 for Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress.

Plot

Thirty-seven-year-old Loretta Castorini (Cher), an Italian American widow, is an accountant for a few local businesses in Brooklyn Heights, New York. She lives in a large, comfortable house with her parents: Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia) a successful plumber, Rose (Olympia Dukakis) and her grandfather, Cosmo's father (Feodor Chaliapin, Jr.). Her boyfriend, Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello), proposes to her over dinner in a neighborhood Italian restaurant, The Grand Ticino, before leaving for Sicily to attend to his dying mother. She agrees on the condition that he must observe the formalities of kneeling and presenting a ring because she considers that her previous marriage was cut short because they hadn't observed them. Johnny asks Loretta to invite his estranged younger brother Ronny (Nicolas Cage) to the wedding. Loretta drives Johnny to the airport, then stops at a liquor store for a bottle of champagne, where she hears the proprietors bickering, the wife accusing the husband of being "a wolf."

At home, Cosmo is listening to Vicki Carr's recording of "It Must Be Him" and brooding. Loretta pours them a drink and shares her news. Cosmo points out that she married before and it didn't work out. Loretta says that she had bad luck, that her husband was hit by a bus. She believes the bad luck was caused by her not having had a real wedding. Cosmo had not approved or given Loretta away, and they had gotten married at City Hall, with no party, dress, no cake, no nothing... and had bad luck. He agrees. She tells him she has to have a "real" wedding this time. They wake Rose to tell her the news. She asks Loretta if she loves Johnny. Loretta says no, but she likes him. Rose says that is good, "When you love them they drive you crazy because they know they can."

The next morning as Loretta and Rose have breakfast, Johnny calls from Sicily where his mother is dying. He hasn't told her about his engagement yet. Loretta urges him not to wait until she is dead. He reminds Loretta of her promise to visit Ronny. She visits the bakery that Ronny owns. He explains the reason for the bad blood: Ronny had been engaged to a woman, and during that time Johnny had come in one day to buy bread. Ronny talked to Johnny as he sliced the bread and wasn't paying attention, and he lost his hand in the slicer. His fiancée left him because he was "maimed." Ronny blames Johnny for the accident. He is very upset. Loretta tells him she has not come to upset him but to talk. They go to his apartment above the bakery and Loretta cooks him a meal and they drink whiskey and talk. Loretta tells Ronny that he is a "wolf" who allowed himself to lose his hand rather than be caught in a trap. Ronny sweeps Loretta into bed, and they make love.

That night an amazing full moon shines over the couples in the story. In the morning, Loretta feels ashamed and tells Ronny they can never see each other again. He admits he's fallen in love but agrees to not see her again--if she will go to the opera with him that night, because then he would have had the two things he loves most, the opera and Loretta. She agrees to meet him at the Met.

That day Loretta goes to a beauty salon and has her hair colored and styled, her eyebrows plucked--a complete makeover. She shops for a beautiful gown and shoes. She stops at the church to go to confession, telling the priest that she has slept with her fiancé's brother. The priest urges her to "consider her life." She sees Rose sitting in the church, and they talk. Rose tells her that Cosmo is seeing another woman. Loretta does not believe her. Meanwhile, Cosmo is having lunch at a fancy restaurant with his mistress Mona (Anita Gillette) where he presents her with a gift of a gold bracelet.

There is a scene that evening where Loretta plays romantic music as she leisurely dresses for the opera and then takes a cab to meet Ronny at the Met. He is wearing a tux and they are both transformed. Loretta is deeply moved by her first opera, Puccini's La Bohème.

That night Rose dines alone at The Grand Ticino 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 "because I know who I am."

As Loretta and Ronny leave the opera, she sees Cosmo with Mona; both Loretta and Cosmo are shocked to see the other with someone other than their proper partner, but they agree to ignore the fact that they saw each other. Loretta and Ronny stop at a bar for a drink. Loretta is upset about Cosmo's infidelity and feels guilty for being with Ronny. She explains to him how a person can decide to do things differently and change. But he desperately and passionately persuades her into another tryst.

Meanwhile, Johnny's mother has made a miraculous recovery after being told of his plans to marry Loretta, and he has returned from Sicily unexpectedly, stopping at Loretta's house on his way back from the airport. Rose tells him that Loretta is out, she doesn't know where. While they have the opportunity to talk, Rose asks him why men cheat on women. First he suggests that it might have something to do with Adam looking for his missing rib, but Rose lays out her opinion that the real reason is fear of death. While they are talking, Cosmo is back home from his date with Mona. Rose says to him, "I just want you to know no matter what you do, you're gonna die just like everyone else."

Loretta arrives home the following morning, having spent another night with Ronny. Rose is alone in the kitchen and tells her that Johnny has come back from Italy and will be there soon and remarks that Loretta has a love bite on her neck. As they wait, Ronny arrives. Rose lets him in and looks at his neck where she sees a love bite. Rose invites Ronny to stay for breakfast, and he accepts before Loretta can stop him. Cosmo and the grandfather come down for breakfast. Cosmo's father tells him that he must pay for Loretta's wedding this time, and sits down. As they all sit around the table, Rose asks Cosmo if she has been a good wife, and when he tells her yes she tells Cosmo that she wants him to stop seeing his mistress. After hesitating, he agrees to, but complains that his life is "built on nothing." Rose counters that his life is not built on nothing, that she loves him. Rose's brother Raymond Cappomaggi (Louis Guss) and his wife Rita (Julie Bovasso) stop in because Loretta, who does their books, forgot to make the bank deposit from their delicatessen while she was getting her makeover, and they are worried. Everyone is introduced to Ronny, and they all await Johnny's arrival.

When Johnny finally comes in, he explains to Loretta that if he marries her, his mother will die. Loretta, forgetting momentarily that this is good news, chastises Johnny for breaking his promise and throws the engagement ring at him. Seizing the moment, Ronny asks Loretta to marry him; he borrows Johnny's ring, and Loretta accepts. Rose asks Loretta if she loves him, and when Loretta says, "I love him awful," Rose comments that that's too bad. The family shares a bottle of champagne to celebrate and the grandfather insists that Johnny join in the toast because he will now be one of the family as well.

Cast

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

Critical and commercial reception

Moonstruck was a major critical and commercial success. The film generated 93% on Rotten Tomatoes with this consensus:

Led by energetic performances from Nicolas Cage and Cher, Moonstruck is an exuberantly funny tribute to love and one of the decade's most appealing comedies.

According to TIME:

John Patrick Shanley's witty, shapely script puts an octet of New Yorkers under a lunar-tuney spell one romantic night. Cher shines brightest of all.

According to Roger Ebert, who later added the film among his "Great Movies" list:

Reviews of the movie tend to make it sound like a madcap ethnic comedy, and that it is. But there is something more here, a certain bittersweet yearning that comes across as ineffably romantic, and a certain magical quality.

According to Gene Siskel, writing for the Chicago Tribune:

Our Flick of the Week is Moonstruck, which is being sold as a romance but actually is one of the funniest pictures to come out in quite some time. [...] You will not easily forget this incredibly robust family, created by writer John Patrick Shanley and directed by Norman Jewison, who makes a comeback with this uproarious film.

It appeared on both critics' Top 10 lists for 1987.

On its wide release, the film opened at #3 and spent 20 nonconsecutive weeks in the top 10 and finally grossed $80,640,528 on a budget of $15 million.

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	Nominated
	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 IMDb
• Moonstruck at the TCM Movie Database
• Moonstruck at Box Office Mojo
• Moonstruck at Rotten Tomatoes