Plot
Loretta Castorini, a book keeper from Brooklyn, New York, finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she agreed to marry (the best friend of her late husband who died seven years previously).

Release Year: 1987

Rating: 7.1/10 (19,730 voted)

Critic's Score: 83/100

Director: Norman Jewison

Stars: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis

Storyline
Loretta Castorini, a Brooklyn bookkeeper in her late 30s whose husband died several years earlier in a bus accident, decides it's time to get married again. So she accepts the proposal of a nice, middle-aged fellow named Johnny Cammareri. Loretta is convinced her first marriage was cursed because she and her husband had gotten married at City Hall; this time, she's determined to do things right, even as she admits to her mother, Rose, that she's not really in love with Johnny. (To which Rose replies: "Good. When you love them, they drive you crazy, 'cause they know they can." Rose speaks from rueful experience; she suspects, with good reason, that her husband, Cosmo, is cheating on her.) Loretta is convinced that marrying Johnny is the safe and sure thing to do - until she meets his estranged younger brother Ronny, who tends the ovens in a neighborhood bakery...

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 Cappomaggi
Feodor Chaliapin Jr. - Old Man (as Feodor Chaliapin)
Anita Gillette - Mona
Leonardo Cimino - Felix
Paula Trueman - Lucy
Nada Despotovich - Chrissy
Joe Grifasi - Shy Waiter
Gina DeAngeles - Old Crone

Taglines: Life. Family. Love.

Official Website: MGM |

Release Date: 18 December 1987

Filming Locations: 19 Cranberry Street, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Opening Weekend: $127,599 (USA) (20 December 1987) (7 Screens)

Gross: $80,640,528 (USA)

Runtime: 102 min

Trivia:
The movie's line "Snap out of it!" was voted as the #96 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

Goofs:
Factual errors: Loretta says "ti amo" to her father, and he answers "ti amo." "I love you" is the accepted English translation, but "ti amo" refers only to romantic love, and would never be used between father and daughter. They would say "ti voglio bene" instead.

Quotes:
Cosmo Castorini: I have no money.
Rose: You're as rich as Roosevelt. You're just cheap, Cosmo.

La Bella Luna!

Rating:

People call this Cher's movie, but Olympia Dukakis makes it for me. It's under her roof that I heard some of my favorite dialogue in the movies.

I am not a violent person, but "Old man . . . you give those dogs another piece of my meat and I'll kick ya til ya dead!" has got to be on my top ten list of memorable quotes.

I like the conversations around this family's kitchen table maybe because growing up, meals in my house were pretty silent even though there were seven of us. Funny that it took an Irish screenwriter to capture the Italian cadences. These people aren't caricatures of Italians or any other ethnicity, they are just a vocal family.

In another time, with just a few changes in the script, this story could have been high operatic drama. But it's not. It's a romantic comedy not a tragedy - even though it contains elements of tragedy - death under a bus, a lost limb, betrayal of marriage vows, and misinterpretations and misunderstandings.

But these characters TALK about what's on their minds. You want to know where the Met is located? You ask your hairdresser. You think your husband is flirting with another woman? You tell him that while you're both working behind the wine counter - in front of a customer. You're mad at your brother, you want to know why men need more than one woman, you want your son to pay for the wedding of his only daughter? If you really want to know, if you really want results or answers, you speak up!

Besides movies based on Agatha Christie novels, it is rare that a story ends with bringing the entire cast together more satisfyingly than "Moonstruck." The morning-after-the-opera scene in Rose Castorini's sunny kitchen with all the characters present is one that I can watch again and again. "You've got a love-bite on yer neck - your life's goin down the toilet!" "I want you to stop seeing her" "Who are we waiting for?" "Johnny Cammarari" "You're a part of the family!"

No matter what sort of table you grew up around, rent or buy this movie.

And remember, "No matter what you're gonna do you gonna die, just like everybody else!"

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