Moonstruck (1987/1988)

Directed by Norman Jewison

Released December 18th, 1987/January 15, 1988

Written by John Patrick Shanley

Movie Synopsis Courtesy of IMDB

"Loretta Castorini, a bookkeeper from Brooklyn, New York, finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she has agreed to marry."

So for starters I will clear the elephant in the room. The reason this movie has two dates in the title is because I am not sure what to put down as the real date. It's release date is technically January of 1988, but it's first premiere was in December of 1987. Which also means that it was made in 1987. I am not sure which is more accurate so that's why both is on there. You can decide which release is more accurate.

Obviously this movie centers a lot around the idea of marriage and love. But it does so in a different way than most romantic comedies do. Not only do most of our characters have a vague and weird outlook on love/marriage, but they also seem to throw around these terms and ideas like they are nothing. Let's take Loretta for instance. When her parents ask her if she loves Johnny, she says no. What? That is not the response you should have when you are about to marry someone. Her rational is that you can't love your husband because then he has reason to take advantage of you/won't respect you (or something like that). She is marrying more for the reason that she is a widow, lonely, and wants a husband for the sake of having a husband. Johnny on the other had, I don't think he ever wanted to get married in the first place. He also acts like this marriage is out of connivence, especially when he is so quick to call it off due to his mom's recovery. Ronnie actually has reason to have a strange outlook on marriage, since he was left after his accident. But still, he has closed himself off from ever having love again because he is scared about his own appearance and thinks no one will love someone who is broken. He is sabotaging himself in order to save himself from the pain of another heartbreak. But I think this is a common man mentality, I can think of a few people who do this to themselves and it doesn't make sense. If you close yourself off from heartbreak then you will be heartbroken forever because you will never find love again.

Speaking of marriage. A month to plan a wedding!? Who does that? In today's day and age, that is not possible at all. Heck, even planning a wedding a year out is getting to be too difficult because of all the preparations, venders, etc. that need to be booked and ready. This isn't realistic at all. Maybe back in the 80s it was because weddings weren't the productions they are now. Also, you want to live with your parents after you get married? Hard pass on that. That is the exact opposite of what I would want to do. Especially at their age. Now I know this dates back to when it was customary to take care of your parents in their old age, so you would live with them. But I would think that would be after a few years. Right away? I mean I guess they aren't in love so the normal "honeymoon phase" of couples wouldn't apply here either. Finally, the last thing that gets me is the idea of "bad luck." Oh, please! Loretta thinks her husband died because her dad didn't give her away and it wasn't a ceremony with a dress and everything, that is crazy. Love and marriage isn't based on luck, sure maybe it is luck when you find the right person, but keeping a marriage going and the things that happen in your life isn't about luck it is about love. This instance it was a pure accident, but she married that man for love. So clearly the only luck was she was able to find that kind of love in the first place. Love that many people, like Johnny, will never know. In fact, she is lucky I guess because she found love in two men. 

Bad luck...hum that reminds me of something...oh yes! The bad acting that takes place in this movie! I am sorry, but this movie was not good. Johnny the whole time seemed so fake, insincere, and like he was bored in this role. Especially when he is "crying" over his mom...that clearly was crocodile tears and a sound effect. Then there was Nicholas Cage. Okay before I rip on him, I will give him credit to this one scene that he actually did really well.

I know a lot of people hate Nicholas Cage, but you have to give it to him in this scene. This scene actually felt real and authentic. He had the right emotion behind his delivery and he didn't seem creepy in this one scene. Which is more than I can say for the rest of the movie. The rest of the movie he seemed very fake, very forced, creepy, and just didn't really make the character seem real. I could tell he was trying to play a character instead of becoming the character. His make-up, hair, and wardrobe didn't help his case much either.

The only bright light to this movie was Cher. Now Cher defiantly carried this movie. She actually was this character and I believed her portrayal. Plus she is just amazing to begin with, so I was glad that her performance lived up to my expectations especially when she didn't have much to work with in terms of her co-stars.

Like when she had to suffer through horrible scenes like this one. And we had to suffer by watching it.

This scene made me so uncomfortable, I found myself looking away. The chemistry wasn't believable. Cage is just awkward throughout. It feels like an acted out scene instead of a moment of passion between two people. I could see the effort and feel the awkwardness in having to film this scene. 

But the big reason I think this acting was so bad and the movie was not enjoyable to watch is the writing. The dialogue in this movie felt so clunky, forced, and just wrong. It didn't feel natural at all. Some of the things that came out of Nicholas Cage's mouth made me cringe and wonder if he was crazy. Take this scene for example. This is probably the best example of when I was cringing the most.

On top of the clunky dialogue, I also thought the storyline and movie itself was rushed. There were a lot of questions I had that I never got answered. For example, why does her Grandpa have so many dogs? What is the significance or reasoning for that, more importantly why are they only his dogs? If Loretta loved her dead husband so much, why don't we hear more about him? I don't think she even uses his name once! Why does it seem like she barely mentions him? If she was so in love we should see that in how she talks about him and how hard it is for her to fall in love again.Why does Loretta's dad fear death so much? Why does Loretta not tell her mom about her father's cheating or heck why does her Grandpa not say anything to her dad about her mom walking with another man? Then the timeline of everything seems way too fast as well. Ronny is in love with Loretta after a few hours? But they don't spend enough time together to really know each other at all, let alone have those kind of feelings. The ending also made no sense and didn't fit with the rest of the movie either. Like who was the picture of the older couple and why was it significant? Bottom line, this movie rushed a lot of details that left me wanting more information and for the characters to spend more time together so we actually see a relationship bloom, instead of it being forced and fake. 

So as you can see, this movie wasn't one of my favorites. I loved Cher's performance but besides that, there wasn't a whole lot else I enjoyed. Let me know what you think of this movie!

Ronny: "I'm in love with you."

Loretta: slaps him twice "Snap out of it!"