Moonstruck Continues to Captivate
This classic feels like the precursor to My Big Fat Greek Wedding, a tale of love and its effects on a close-knit family.
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that there are more movies to watch than one can ever manage in a lifetime.
Whether all of those movies deserve to be watched is a matter of some debate, though.
Considering the near impossibility of watching everything ever released, one might be forgiven for having never seen Moonstruck (1987). Especially taking into account that the person in question was only a year old at the time of the movie’s release… but I digress.
When I stumbled across Moonstruck on Amazon’s streaming service, I decided it was Prime time to correct what my husband considered a grievous oversight for any cinephile such as myself.
As much as I hate to admit it, he was right — just don’t tell him I said so!
This Cher vehicle helped to propel a young Nicholas Cage to “household name” status.
It follows a jaded Italian widow, Loretta, who accepts a marriage proposal from her safe — if somewhat lackluster — boyfriend, Johnny, whom she doesn’t love.
He is leaving for Sicily that night and asks her to invite his brother Ronny to the wedding, even though they haven’t spoken in five years.
If Loretta is jaded, Ronny is something else altogether, and it becomes much more complicated when she falls in love with him.
Moonstruck was a hit with critics, garnering an impressive six Oscar nominations and three wins — including a nomination for Best Picture. It ultimately lost to The Last Emperor (1987), which seems strange considering both Moonstruck and Fatal Attraction (1987) were nominated and have lasted much longer in the public consciousness.
Cage became an overnight success. Cher won an Oscar for Best Actress. Olympia Dukakis, up to this point known best for her work as a character actor and in theater, wowed the world with her gift and nabbed an Oscar.
Moonstruck’s director, Nathan Jewison, went on to direct one of my favorite rom-coms from the ’90s — Only You (1994).
Despite the more than five years between these two releases, they are related by the theme that runs through them both — love.
It’s much more on the nose in Only You but it’s just as present in Moonstruck.
Love and lovers are everywhere, from Loretta and her relationships with the two brothers to her parents’ strained relationship to that of her aunt and uncle.
The complexities of love and the human condition are on full display and explored from all angles — long-term relationships, philandering spouses, new relationships and destiny.
Is it enough to marry someone just because they are nice? Is it wrong to choose love when you are promised to another? If a life is built on love, is that enough of a legacy to leave behind?
The intensity of these emotions and questions plays out through the movie, especially in Cage’s portrayal of Ronny — his emotions mirroring the intensity of the operas his character so loves.
And while his presence in this film is magnetic, there are several instances I normally would qualify as overacting, but they fit perfectly within the story’s arc. These dramatic bursts, which I might consider resulted from his only being 24 or a directorial choice to which he was beholden, work within the context of the narrative.
The only thing I will lay squarely at Cage’s feet is his “accent” in this movie, which is neither Brooklyn nor Italian, but definitely contains hints of his Valley Girl (1983) roots.
While Cage’s and Cher’s performances were outstanding, Olympia Dukakis and John Mahoney steal the audience’s attention while they’re on screen. This is especially apparent when they share their few scenes together.
Much like Dukakis’ Rose, Moonstruck knows what it is — a romantic comedy with something to say. Jewison pulls back when another director might take the humor a step further, deftly keeping this film from falling into the schlocky territory that could easily cause it to lose resonance.
There’s a scene in Moonstruck where Cher is walking down a Brooklyn street, kicking a crumpled up soda can from one side to another.
The thing is, I have seen this scene before. It’s hung around my consciousness since it was in a MGM commercial promoting new DVD technology. At the time, I had no idea what it was for, but it resonated with me.
Moonstruck, in and of itself, felt much the same way. I’m not entirely sure why, but it struck a chord with something in me.
In a lot of ways, Moonstruck feels like the precursor to My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), another tale of love and its effects on a large, close-knit family. While it might be impossible to see every movie ever made, Moonstruck certainly is one worth making time to watch — Ti Amo.
