Moonstruck (1987)
Overview
37-year-old Italian-American widow Loretta Castorini believes she is unlucky in love, and so accepts a marriage proposal from her boyfriend Johnny, even though she doesn't love him. When she meets his estranged younger brother Ronny, an emotional and passionate man, she finds herself drawn to him. She tries to resist, but Ronny, who blames his brother for the loss of his hand, has no scruples about aggressively pursuing her while Johnny is out of the country. As Loretta falls for Ronny, she learns that she's not the only one in her family with a secret romance.
Cast
Cher
Loretta Castorini
Nicolas Cage
Ronny Cammareri
Vincent Gardenia
Cosmo Castorini
Olympia Dukakis
Rose Castorini
Danny Aiello
Mr. Johnny Cammareri
Julie Bovasso
Rita Cappomaggi
John Mahoney
Perry
Louis Guss
Raymond Capomaggi
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With his mother seemingly on her deathbed, "Loretta" (Cher) agrees to marry the kindly but rather dull "Johnny" (Danny Aiello) only to find herself amidst a family grudge. He won't invite his brother "Ronny" (Nicolas Cage) to the wedding. She decides to put an end to this childishness and so goes to confront him. It seems he has a good reason for their falling out, but she's determined to reconcile them. He is quickly smitten with his soon to be in-law, and the most Italian of intricate courtships begins - thanks in part to Puccini's "La Boheme" at the Metropolitan Opera - that sees her become genuinely conflicted, much to the frustrated chagrin of her mother "Rose" (Olympia Dukakis). What now ensues is a gently comedic story of burgeoning love, family politics and fair degree of lust! Can they find a way out of their predicament without hurting poor "Johnny", or inducing an heart attack on her increasingly perplexed father "Cosmo" (Vincent Gardenia)? There's quite some chemistry between Cher and Cage as his charm and personality wears her down turning both into, quite literally, moonstruck calves! Norman Jewison allows his character actors to be just that, Dukakis is on great form and the writing is peppered with some, admittedly rather predicable, humour that offers a stylish and engaging romance that bubbles nicely like a good ragout. It's charmingly augmented by a bit of Dean Martin too!
