Moonstruck

It's apparent very early that 1987's MOONSTRUCK is something special, unique.  Almost magical.  Director Norman Jewison must've cast some sorta spell.  Maybe he really did treat this as if he were directing an opera or something.  Yet for all its grandiose emotions it's a strangely calm, contemplative movie.  The plot is old hat and worn.  Not to mention predictable.  It'd be tempting to say that one shouldn't pay it any mind but that would be unfair.  John Patrick Shanley's screenplay really cares about its living, breathing characters and their hang ups.  There are many.

Loretta Castorini (Cher) is pushing 40 and lives with her parents in Brooklyn.  Her first marriage ended when her husband was hit by a bus, and she's convinced the union was cursed.  She's awfully superstitious about following traditions.  Her sad sack boyfriend Johnny (Danny Aiello) - whom Loretta likes but does not love -  awkwardly proposes marriage at the Italian joint where they (and everyone else in this picture) always eat.  He gives her his pinkie ring.  She accepts.  Resigned to accept, you might say.  Then Johnny flies to Italy to be with his dying mother.  As we'll learn, he's pretty superstitious too.  

Before he leaves, Johnny insists Loretta contact his estranged younger brother Ronny (Nicolas Cage) and invite him to the wedding.  Ronny is a hothead who works at a bakery.  He also sports a prosthetic wooden hand, the result of a lapse of attention with a bread slicer while talking to his brother, which lead to the exit of his fiancee and the brotherly rift.  Ronny explains this in a scene that is vintage over the top Cage, yet like the rest of the film feels kinda lyrical and part of some almost mythical story.

Needless to say, Loretta ends up falling for the impulsive, primal Ronny, who declares his love after she dresses him down.  He also loves La Boheme, and convinces her to take in a performance with him.  But it is there that Loretta sees her father Cosmo (Vincent Gardeina) with Mona (Anita Gillette), who is not her mother.  That would be Rose (Olympia Dukakis, who almost steals the movie), who believes that men chase women because they are afraid of dying.

I'm not much for films that take a light approach to relational cheating, no matter what justifications the filmmakers present, but MOONSTRUCK just has this dreaminess about it that is hard to resist. Lou Lombardo's smooth editing plays a large role. The moon does in fact does play a pivotal role in this movie, and things wrap up happily.  Jewison makes it feel like a fairy tale for grown ups, with numerous moments of truth and perception.  The Italian-American caricatures are minimal, rather embracing more authentic dialogue and behavior.  Julie Bovasso, previously seen as Tony Manero's ma in SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER and here playing a family friend, is even credited as a dialogue coach.  She knows the scene, but the rest of the cast also follow suit quite nicely.