BLOGGER'S NOTE: This article originally appeared on the Wonders in the Dark blog as part of their Great Romantic Movies countdown.
It took a Canadian filmmaker to make Moonstruck (1987), the quintessential Italian-American romantic
comedy from a screenplay written by an Irish-American playwright, but then
isn’t that what the American experience is all about? For what is the United
States, but the great melting pot? Norman Jewison’s film is a celebration of
love, life and food. John Patrick Shanley’s script is full of romantic
yearnings for, among many things, the opera and, of course, the moon. Above all
else, the film places an emphasis on the importance of family. Moonstruck was the My Big Fat Geek Wedding (2002) of its day only infinitely better
and about an Italian family as opposed to a Greek one. Watching Jewison’s film
again, you realize just how much Nia
Vardalos’ romantic comedy is heavily indebted to it. If Moonstruck is La Boheme than
Greek Wedding is Tony and Tina’s Wedding.
Loretta
Castorini (Cher) is engaged to Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello). They act like
an old married couple and they haven’t even tied the knot yet! And therein lies
the problem – their relationship lacks passion. He is called away suddenly to
Italy to see his mother on her deathbed and asks Loretta to invite his
estranged brother Ronny (Nicolas Cage) to their wedding. Ronny works in a
bakery and is bitter over having lost his hand in a freak accident, blaming
Johnny for what happened. In a classic case of opposites attracting, Loretta
and Ronny find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other.
At
the time, Nicolas Cage was considered an odd casting choice because of his
reputation as an eccentric character actor. The way he gestures and enunciates
certain words is off-kilter in such a way that it gives his scenes a
wonderfully unpredictable vibe. He makes unusual choices and surprisingly they
all work. Cage delivers a very physical, Brando-esque performance only filtered
through his very distinctive style of acting as evident in the scene where
Ronny and Loretta meet for the first time. Cage is fascinating to watch for the
unusual choices he makes. Ronny paces around the room, starting his rant
quietly before gradually building in intensity, punctuating his impassioned
speech with words like, “huh” and “sweetie.” Jewison orchestrates the actor
beautifully through editing so that the scene has an absolutely captivating
rhythm as we gain insight into Ronny’s character. Cage conveys an impressive
range of emotions as Ronny goes from pride to rage to sadness.
He
plays well off of Cher and they have the kind of chemistry that is so important
for this kind of film. His fiery, Method approach works well in contrast to
Cher’s more controlled style and their scenes together crackle with the
intensity of two actors with very different approaches bouncing off each other.
Ronny is a wounded animal, “a wolf without a foot,” as Loretta puts it, and she
is “a bride without a head,” as he tells her, but over the course of the film
she transforms him into a civilized human being. She brings out the romantic
who likes to dress up and go to the opera. Cher does a wonderful job of
immersing herself in the character of Loretta, a strong-willed, smart woman who
thinks she has it all figured out until she meets Ronny. On the surface,
Loretta may seem like a cynic, but she has taken what she feels is a more
realistic approach towards love because of the death of her previous husband.
She has chosen to marry Johnny not because she loves him, but because he’s a
safe bet. Her heart has fallen asleep only to be awakened by Ronny. Cher won a
well-deserved Academy Award for her performance as a widow who, against her
better judgement, falls in love again. Watching her in this film reminds one
how natural an actress she is and what a crime it is that she doesn’t act more
often.
Cage
and Cher are well supported by a fantastic cast of colorful character actors.
Vincent Gardenia plays Loretta’s cheap father Cosmo who has a lover on the side
and Olympia Dukakis is Rose, her wise mother full of world-weary pearls of
wisdom, like when she tells her daughter about men: “When you love them they
drive you crazy because they know they can.” There’s an air of sadness to her
character as Rose seems to have resigned herself to a life where every day is
the same. Then there’s Feodor Chaliapin, Jr. as Loretta’s grandfather who can
be seen in several scenes walking his small fleet of mangy dogs and seems to be
used as merely window-dressing until Jewison gives him a pivotal moment towards
the end of the film.
The
film’s secret weapon is Danny Aiello as mama’s boy Johnny. From hysterical
crying to the way he interacts with Cher’s Loretta, his portrayal of Johnny is
a master class in comedic acting. Johnny thinks he knows something about men
and women (“A man who can’t control his woman is funny.”), but is quickly put
in his place by Loretta. Aiello does wonders with throwaway bits of dialogue
like, “My scalp is not getting enough blood sometimes,” as Johnny tells Loretta
over dinner while vigorously rubbing his hair. He doesn’t mug per se, but
rather plays it straight in a way that makes his character look ridiculous via
tiny gestures or through a specific facial expression. Compared to someone like
Cage, you know Aiello has no chance with Cher, but the actor plays it like
Johnny believes they are going to get married all the way through the film.
There
are superb recurring gags, like John Mahoney’s sad university professor who
keeps striking out with younger women that throw wine in his face midway
through dinner before storming out of the restaurant. While his character is a
bit of a Lech, Mahoney’s expressive eyes convey a sadness that makes you feel
somewhat sympathetic for him. There’s a nice scene between his character and
Rose where they end up having dinner together at the restaurant after he’s
publicly embarrassed yet again by his latest young lady friend (Canadian
actress Cynthia Dale in a small role). It’s a lovely scene between two lonely
people as they talk honestly about their lives and she asks him, “Why do men
chase women?” He has no good answer and she tells him, “I think it’s because
they fear death.” It kickstarts a fascinating conversation that allows us to
understand these two people. Every time I watch Moonstruck I imagine an offshoot film that follows Rose and the
professor as they run off together or perhaps have a brief affair.
The
use of location is excellent. For example, the opening shot is of Lincoln
Center (which features prominently later on) in New York City so we know
exactly where we are. Most of the film is set in Brooklyn and Jewison conveys
an almost tactile feel for the borough. You want to be there and know these
people. You also get a real sense of community. The warm, inviting lighting of
the Italian restaurant where Johnny proposes to Loretta and where her mother
has dinner with Mahoney’s professor has a wonderful, intimate atmosphere made
up of warm reds and contrasting greens that puts you right there. There is
another scene where Loretta looks out the window at the full moon in the night
sky and the lighting is perfect with just the right music that results in such
a touching, poignant moment. No words are spoken because none are needed with
such visuals.
Moonstruck received mostly positive
reviews from critics. Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and
wrote, “I was struck by how subtle and gentle it is, despite all the noise and
emotion. How it loves its characters, and refuses to limit their personalities
to a few comic traits.” The Washington
Post’s Rita Kempley wrote, “They’re an irresistibly offbeat couple – Cage
playing on the edge, where he likes it; Cher creating a fairy tale realist,
captivating yet cautious. He looks like the bastard son of Mama Celeste and
Wile E. Coyote, and she, as the camera romances her Mediterranean features, is
Mona Lisa in heavy mascara.” In her review for the Los Angeles Times, Sheila Benson wrote, “They come from Shanley’s
gorgeous dialogue: the tart, real talk of people who’ve lived together their
lives long, filtered through a poet’s sensibility.” The Chicago Tribune’s Gene Siskel wrote, “Cher is the nominal star of
what turns out to be a terrific ensemble piece about a bunch of tough-as-nails
Italian characters living in New York.” However, in her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote,
“Moonstruck clearly means to
celebrate all things Italian. However, it creates the false but persistent
impression that most of the people who made it have never been closer to Italy
than, perhaps, Iowa.”
As
much as the 1980s was typified by Wall
Street’s (1987) Gordon Gekko and his “Greed is good” mantra, Moonstruck is about blue-collar people.
It pays tribute to folks that represent the glue of society, showing us
bookkeepers, bread makers, liquor store owners, plumbers and so on plying their
trade. The characters in this film may lead workaday jobs, but their personal
lives are anything but average. Like My
Big Fat Greek Wedding, Moonstruck
does heighten ethnic stereotypes for comedic effect, but the latter film does
so sincerely and with class. Moonstruck
perpetuates a lot of Italian stereotypes, but not in a grating way, playfully
making fun of some of them while celebrating others with affection. Far from
being a bundle of ethnic clichés, it is a celebration of the Italian-American
experience. The crucial difference between the two films is tone. Where Greek Wedding is all cuddly, feel good
sitcom, Moonstruck has some bite to
it, an edge as represented by Cage’s passionate performance. This film is full
of fantastic acting and much pleasure comes from watching a very talented cast
speak brilliantly written dialogue. Best of all it has a wonderful sense of
romantic naivete, a cinematic love letter to New York City.
