Product: Moonstruck (1987)
Rating: 4.0
I'll admit; I'm a little moonstruck...
`Moonstruck' tells the all too familiar tale of a woman who falls in love with a man whom she is not promised to. Yes, we have seen this story told before, at times better, at times worse. What makes `Moonstruck' so entertaining is that it takes the age old formula and spices it with wonderful performances that capture a deeper sense of meaning than just merely whether or not one person is meant for one person.The film tells the story if widow Loretta Castorini, a beautiful yet unkempt woman who feels as though she is unlucky, and that lack of luck has convinced her that the only way to be happy is to marry the older `nice' guy Johnny Cammareri. While Johnny is away visiting his dying mother though, Loretta meets his brother Ronny, the black sheep of the family, and (you guessed it) falls in love with him. Her passion for Ronny contradicts her insistence on marrying Johnny even though she knows that Johnny will never fulfill her the way that Ronny would. While she deals with this inconvenience she also has to contend with her parents, Cosmo and Rose, as they struggle to make their marriage work.Yes, I'll say this now, `Moonstruck' is slightly clichéd and lays heavy on the Italian stereotypes, but it's done in that innocent jesting way, much like `My Big Fat Greek Wedding'; never in a shameless and irritable way like say, a Tyler Perry movie (don't hate). I actually thought that the little Italian touches helped the film blossom into something memorable as apposed to just another `same old same'. I am half Italian myself and while I can see how some may take offence to some of the blatant stereotypes I found that it was all done in fun, not malicious in anyway, and only added layers to the films script.The acting is also noteworthy. Cher and Olympia Dukakis both took home acting Oscars for their performances in this film, and both were truly the standouts. I can't say that Cher deserved to win (I'm leaning more towards Glenn Close) but she was truly wonderful here (not what I expected) and her nomination alone was well deserved. Dukakis was even better, and I have to say that I totally agree with her win. She handled her character, which could have been nothing more than stock, with so much grace and maturity. Her conversation with John Mahoney alone is the single best scene in the entire film. Vincent Gardenia was effective, if not the biggest stereotype in the bunch (it's always the father, right?) and Danny Aiello is a bit lost. I tell you, I was most impressed with Cage, since I normally find him rather bland. He turned out a very good performance. His accent was right on and his emotional connection was, while still a tad muted, much deeper than most his performances and his detachment from serious emotion actually aided in the films humor.There may be a lot familiar or clichéd about this film, but there is also a lot to enjoy and remember. The acting is mostly rich (especially from the female stars) and the script is written with enough gusto to make even its most clichéd moments entertaining and somewhat fresh. Like I said, it's not highly original and it does overdo the stereotypes at times, but its all in fun and sometimes `fun' is just what we need.