moonstruck
{{Short description|1987 film by Norman Jewison}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Missing information|its production|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Moonstruck
| image = Chermoonstruck.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Norman Jewison
| producer = {{Plainlist|
- Norman Jewison
- Patrick Palmer
}}
| writer = John Patrick Shanley
| starring = {{Plainlist|
}}
| music = Dick Hyman
| cinematography = David Watkin
| editing = Lou Lombardo
| studio = {{Plainlist|
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Star Partners II Ltd.
}}
| distributor = MGM/UA Communications Co.
| released = {{Film date|1987|12|18|United States}}
| runtime = 102 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $15 million[http://powergrid.thewrap.com/project/moonstruck Box Office Information for Moonstruck.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708232914/http://powergrid.thewrap.com/project/moonstruck |date=2017-07-08 }} TheWrap. Retrieved April 4, 2013
| gross = $122.1 million
}}
Moonstruck is a 1987 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Jewison and written by John Patrick Shanley.{{cite web|work=Themoviebuff|url=https://www.themoviebuff.net/2025/04/moonstruck-review-simple-old-school-romcom-with-little-in-the-way-of-romance-or-laughs/|title=‘Moonstruck’ Review: Simple Old School Romcom with Little in the way of Romance or Laughs|first=Matt Van|last=Decristo|date=April 22, 2025}} It stars Cher as a widowed Italian-American woman who falls in love with her fiancé's hot-tempered, estranged younger brother, played by Nicolas Cage. The supporting cast includes Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis and Vincent Gardenia.
Moonstruck had a limited theatrical release on December 18, 1987, and was released nationally on January 15, 1988 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/moonstruck-review-movie-cher-1987-1235761983|title='Moonstruck': THR's 1987 Review|first=Michael|last=Rechtshaffen|date=17 December 2023 |publisher=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=6 August 2024}} The film earned critical and commercial success. It received six nominations at the 60th Academy Awards, winning three for Best Actress (Cher), Best Supporting Actress (Dukakis), and Best Original Screenplay (Shanley).{{cite web |url=https://www.criterion.com/films/29154-moonstruck|title=Moonstruck|publisher=The Criterion Collection |access-date=6 August 2024}}
Plot
Loretta Castorini, an Italian-American widow, works as a bookkeeper and lives in Brooklyn Heights with her parents, Cosmo and Rose, and her paternal grandfather. Loretta's boyfriend, Johnny Cammareri, proposes to her before leaving for Sicily to tend to his dying mother. Loretta accepts, but she insists on carefully following tradition as she believes failing to do so originally led to her first husband's sudden death after two years of marriage.
Johnny asks Loretta to invite his estranged younger brother Ronny to the wedding; Ronny and Johnny have not spoken in five years. Loretta returns home and informs her parents of the engagement. Cosmo, who runs a successful plumbing business, dislikes Johnny and is reluctant to pay for Loretta's planned "real" wedding. Hearing that Loretta likes but does not love Johnny, Rose tells her that true love can cause romantic partners to be easily hurt by each other.
Loretta goes to see Ronny at the bakery he owns and learns Ronny has a wooden prosthetic hand caused by absentmindedly putting his hand in a bread slicer while having a conversation with Johnny; Ronny's fiancée subsequently left him. Loretta insists that they talk privately. They go to Ronny's apartment, where Loretta cooks a meal, and both have several alcoholic beverages. Loretta compares Ronny to a wolf that would gnaw off its paw to escape a trap and claims he deliberately injured his hand to escape a bad relationship. Ronny reacts furiously and passionately, kissing Loretta; to her surprise, Loretta kisses him back. Ronny carries Loretta to his bed, where they make love.
That evening, Rose's brother Raymond and his wife Rita join Rose, Cosmo, and Cosmo’s father for dinner and they wonder where Loretta is. Raymond recalls a particularly bright moon that he believes was in the sky when Cosmo was courting Rose, which Loretta and Ronny witness as well. The next morning, Loretta is overcome with guilt, but Ronny promises to never bother her again if she attends a performance of La bohème at the Met with him. Loretta goes to church to confess her infidelity and afterwards calls at Raymond and Rita's store to close out the cash register. Upon leaving, she impulsively goes to a hair salon and buys a glamorous evening gown and shoes at a boutique.
Loretta is deeply moved by La bohème. While leaving the opera, she sees Cosmo, accompanied by his mistress, Mona, and confronts him. As Loretta is with Ronny, Cosmo suggests that Loretta keep their encounter a secret. Loretta attempts to return home, but Ronny desperately persuades her into another tryst. That same night, Rose dines alone at a restaurant and sees a college professor, Perry, being dramatically dumped by a female student.
Taking pity on Perry, Rose invites him to dine with her instead, allowing him to walk her home but refusing to invite him in because she is loyal to her marriage. Later, Johnny unexpectedly returns from Sicily after his mother's "miraculous" recovery and meets with Rose at the Castorini house. They agree that men chase after women for fear of death.
Returning home next morning, Loretta is distressed to learn from Rose that Johnny will be there soon. Ronny arrives, and Rose invites him for breakfast over Loretta's objections. Cosmo and Grandpa emerge from upstairs; Grandpa insists that Cosmo agree to pay for Loretta's wedding. Rose then confronts Cosmo and demands that he end his affair; he is upset but gives in and, at Rose's insistence, also agrees to go to confession. Both reaffirm their love for each other.
Raymond and Rita arrive, concerned that Loretta had not deposited the previous day's takings at the bank, and are relieved to learn that she merely forgot and still has the money. When Johnny finally arrives, he breaks off the engagement, superstitiously believing that their marriage would cause his mother's death. Loretta berates Johnny for breaking his promise and throws the engagement ring at him. Ronny borrows the ring and asks Loretta to marry him, to which she agrees. The family toasts the couple with champagne and Johnny joins in at Grandpa's urging, since he will now be part of the family after all.
Cast
{{Div col}}
- Cher as Loretta Castorini
- Nicolas Cage as Ronny Cammareri
- Olympia Dukakis as Rose Castorini
- Vincent Gardenia as Cosmo Castorini
- Danny Aiello as Mr. Johnny Cammareri
- Julie Bovasso as Rita CappomagiThere is an error in the credits: that name has "gg", but in the film scene the name appears in the shop window, written as Cappomagi, with only one "g".
- Louis Guss as Raymond Cappomagi
- John Mahoney as Perry
- Feodor Chaliapin as Old Man
- Anita Gillette as Mona
- Leonardo Cimino as Felix
- Paula Trueman as Lucy
- Nada Despotovich as Chrissy
- Joe Grifasi as Shy Waiter
- Gina DeAngeles as Old Crone
- Robin Bartlett as Barbara
- Helen Hanft as Lotte
- David S. Howard as Irv
- Robert Weil as Bobo
- Patricia Magrini as Benjamin's Secretary
{{Div col end}}
Reception
= Box office =
On its wide release, the film finished third at the US box office and spent 20 nonconsecutive weeks in the top 10 and finally grossed $80.6 million in the United States and Canada.{{cite web |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=moonstruck.htm |title=Moonstruck |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=April 4, 2013 |archive-date=April 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424144329/http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=moonstruck.htm |url-status=live }} Internationally it grossed $41.5 million for a worldwide total of $122.1 million,{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|date=September 11, 1995|page=92|title=UIP's $25M-Plus Club}} on a budget of $15 million.
= Critical response =
Moonstruck received critical acclaim upon release.{{Cite web |title=Moonstruck (1987) – History |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57753 |access-date=July 10, 2024 |website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films |quote=Moonstruck opened in New York City, Toronto, and Los Angeles, CA, on 16 Dec 1987 to critical acclaim}} On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 89% based on reviews from 76 critics, with an average score of 7.8/10. The site's consensus read, "Led by energetic performances from Nicolas Cage and Cher, Moonstruck is an exuberantly funny tribute to love and one of the decade's most appealing comedies."{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Moonstruck |title=Moonstruck (1987) |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=April 16, 2024 |archive-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204045542/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/moonstruck |url-status=live }} On Metacritic, the film has a score of 83 out of 100 based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".{{cite web |title=Moonstruck |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/moonstruck |website=Metacritic |access-date=January 17, 2023 |archive-date=2020-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004045226/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/moonstruck |url-status=live }} Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.{{cite web |url=https://m.cinemascore.com |title=CinemaScore |work=cinemascore.com |access-date=2021-05-05 |archive-date=2017-09-16 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20170916153548/https://m.cinemascore.com/ |url-status=live }}
Time wrote, "John Patrick Shanley's witty, shapely script puts an octet of New Yorkers under a lunar-tuney spell one romantic night. Cher shines brightest of all."{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,967134,00.html |title=Critics' Choice |magazine=Time |date=April 4, 1988 |access-date=January 6, 2024}} Roger Ebert, who later added the film among his "Great Movies" list, said: "Reviews of the movie tend to make it sound like a madcap ethnic comedy, and that it is. But there is something more here, a certain bittersweet yearning that comes across as ineffably romantic, and a certain magical quality".{{Cite news |url=http://www.rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19880115/REVIEWS/801150304 |title=Review of Moonstruck |first=Roger|last=Ebert |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=January 15, 1988 |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990302045618/http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1988/01/274003.html |archive-date=1999-03-02 |url-status=dead }} Film historian Leonard Maltin gave the picture 4 out of 4 stars.Maltin's TV, Movie, & Video Guide
Gene Siskel, writing for the Chicago Tribune, recommended "Moonstruck, which is being sold as a romance but actually is one of the funniest pictures to come out in quite some time. [...] You will not easily forget this incredibly robust family, created by writer John Patrick Shanley and directed by Norman Jewison, who makes a comeback with this uproarious film."{{cite news|author=Gene Siskel|author-link=Gene Siskel|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1988/01/15/flick-of-week-comedy-is-king-in-moonstruck/|title=Flick Of Week: Comedy Is King In 'Moonstruck'|work=Chicago Tribune|date=1988-01-15|access-date=2013-12-02|archive-date=2013-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203050948/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-01-15/entertainment/8803220440_1_star-flick-film|url-status=live}}
It appeared on both Siskel's and Ebert's Top 10 lists for 1987.{{cite web|url=http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/ebertandthemovies/best_worst.html|title=Ebert & Roeper and the movies - Best & Worst|date=5 June 2001|access-date=26 October 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010605232324/http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/ebertandthemovies/best_worst.html|archive-date=5 June 2001}} In 2018, Billboard ranked Cher's work the all-time greatest acting performance by a musician.{{Cite news |date=October 4, 2018 |title=The 100 Best Acting Performances by Musicians in Movies |url=https://www.billboard.com/media/lists/musician-movie-performances-top-100-8477854/ |access-date=April 25, 2025 |work=Billboard}}
Accolades
In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Moonstruck was acknowledged as the eighth best film in the romantic comedy genre.{{cite news | author = American Film Institute | author-link = American Film Institute | title = AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres | work = ComingSoon.net | date = 2008-06-17 | url = http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46072 | access-date = 2008-06-18 | archive-date = 2008-08-18 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080818100312/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46072 | url-status = live }}{{cite news | author = American Film Institute | author-link = American Film Institute | title = AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres | work = ComingSoon.net | date = 2008-06-17 | url = http://www.afi.com/10top10/romanticcomedy.html | access-date = 2008-06-18 | archive-date = 2008-06-19 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080619174502/http://www.afi.com/10top10/romanticcomedy.html | url-status = live }} The film is also number 72 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies," and number 41 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs.
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
- 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – #41{{cite web |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/laughs100.pdf |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=2016-08-06 |archive-date=2013-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316140859/http://afi.com/Docs/100Years/laughs100.pdf |url-status=live }}
- 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – #17{{cite web |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/passions100.pdf |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=2016-08-06 |archive-date=2016-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624052654/http://afi.com/Docs/100Years/passions100.pdf |url-status=live }}
- 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
- Loretta Castorini: "Snap out of it!" – #96{{cite web |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/quotes100.pdf |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=2016-08-06 |archive-date=2011-03-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110313150615/http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/quotes100.pdf |url-status=live }}
- 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:
- #8 Romantic Comedy Film{{cite web |title=AFI's 10 Top 10: Top 10 Romantic Comedy |url=http://www.afi.com/10top10/category.aspx?cat=2 |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=2016-08-06 |archive-date=2016-06-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160615004316/http://www.afi.com/10top10/category.aspx?cat=2 |url-status=live }}
Influential film critic Roger Ebert entered the film to his "Great Movies" collection in June 2003.{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title=Moonstruck |date=June 22, 2003 |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20030622%2FREVIEWS08%2F306220301%2F1023 |access-date=March 14, 2009 |archive-date=April 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401233300/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20030622%2FREVIEWS08%2F306220301%2F1023 |url-status=live }}
Soundtrack
| class="wikitable" | ||
| Song | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| That's Amore | Dean Martin | Harry Warren, Jack Brooks |
| Canzone Per Loretta/Addio, Mulberry Street | Jack Zaza (mandolin) | Dick Hyman |
| Mr. Moon | Dick Hyman | |
| It Must Be Him | Vikki Carr | Gilbert Bécaud, Mack David, Maurice Vidalin |
| Old Man Mazurka | Dominic Cortese (accordion) | Dick Hyman |
| Lament for Johnny's Mama | Dick Hyman | |
| Che gelida manina | Ed Bickert (guitar) | Giacomo Puccini |
| Donde lieta uscì | Renata Tebaldi | Giacomo Puccini |
| Canzone Per Loretta | Dick Hyman | |
| O soave fanciulla | Carlo Bergonzi, Renata Tebaldi | Giacomo Puccini |
| Musetta's Waltz | Moe Koffman (alto saxophone) | Giacomo Puccini |
| Musetta's Entrance | Nora Shulman (flute) | Giacomo Puccini |
| La bohème (instrumental excerpts) | Giacomo Puccini | |
| (In Loretta's Bedroom) Gettin' Ready | Moe Koffman (alto saxophone) | Dick Hyman |
| Brooklyn Heights Stroll | Dick Hyman | |
| Beautiful Signorina | Dick Hyman | |
| Moonglow | Eddie DeLange, Will Hudson, Irving Mills | |
| Canzone Per Loretta | Dominic Cortese (accordion) | Dick Hyman |
| Gioventù mia, tu non sei morta (La bohème, act 2) | Carlo Bergonzi, Cesare Siepi, Ettore Bastianini, Fernando Corena, Gianna D'Angelo, Renata Tebaldi, Renato Cesari | Giacomo Puccini |
Soundtrack references: {{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093565/soundtrack|title=Moonstruck (1987)|access-date=26 October 2017|website=IMDb.com|archive-date=5 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505024457/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093565/soundtrack|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/moonstruck-mw0000195746|title=Moonstruck - Original Soundtrack - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=26 October 2017|archive-date=27 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027125559/https://www.allmusic.com/album/moonstruck-mw0000195746|url-status=live}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{wikiquote}}
- {{IMDb title|0093565}}
- {{AFI film|57753}}
- {{TCMDb title|17664|Moonstruck}}
- {{rotten-tomatoes|moonstruck|Moonstruck}}
- {{mojo title|moonstruck}}
- [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7192-moonstruck-life-in-the-in-between Moonstruck: Life in the In-Between] an essay by Emily St. James at the Criterion Collection
{{Norman Jewison}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moonstruck}}
Category:1987 romantic comedy films
Category:American romantic comedy films
Category:Films directed by Norman Jewison
Category:Films about dysfunctional families
Category:Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award–winning performance
Category:Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe winning performance
Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award–winning performance
Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe–winning performance
Category:Films set in Brooklyn
Category:Films set in New York City
Category:Films shot in New York City
Category:Films with screenplays by John Patrick Shanley
Category:Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award
Category:Films about Italian-American culture
Category:1980s Italian-language films
Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Category:1980s English-language films