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 MOONSTRUCK |
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| Featuring: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello |
| Director: Norman Jewison |
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Studio: MGM Video & DVD |
| DVD release: 15 February 2011 |
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Runtime: 102 min.
(1 disc) |
| Format: Color, Subtitled, Widescreen, Blu-ray |
| DVD features: 1080p HD, Aspect ratio 1.85:1, Audio tracks (DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio - English; 5.1 DTS - French; Dolby Digital Mono - Spanish), Subtitles (English SDH, French, Spanish), Audio commentary (Cher, dir. Norman Jewison, writer John Patrick Shanley), "Moonstruck: At the Heart of an Italian Family," "Pastas to Pastries: The Art of Fine Italian Food," "Music of Moonstruck," Original theatrical trailer
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 Until MGM's Blu-ray release of Moonstruck, it had been years since I'd seen it. Years since I realized how great Cher was, how great Nicholas Cage could be at the height of his powers. Director Norman Jewison pulled together a talented cast who really delivered.
Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello) has just proposed to widowed Loretta Castorini (Cher). Does she love Johnny? No, but she likes him - and that should do. She had her chance with her late husband in what she believes was an unlucky marriage, and that was all she feels she deserves.
Loretta's parents Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia) and Rose (Olympia Dukakis) aren't thrilled with her plans to remarry. They're jaded; their relationship is suffering from Cosmo's affair and Rose's subsequent alienation. Also contributing to the noisy chorus is Cosmo's father, known only as Old Man (Feodor Chaliapin, Jr.), who speaks mostly Italian and is always surrounded by at least six dogs.
Loretta's family is very important to her. She's Italian, and food is as vital to her as family. When she wants to spring it on her father that she's engaged to Johnny, they go to the kitchen to talk. At the climax of the film, when all the threads come together, it's in the kitchen. That's where things are done, important things discussed.
When Loretta goes to the bakery to tell Johnny's brother, Ronny (Nicolas Cage), he flies into a rage, blaming Johnny for the loss of his own love (Johnny distracted Ronny, who lost much of his hand in a bread slicer; his fiancée left him as a result). In the five years since, Ronny and Johnny haven't talked. Ronny demands that Chrissy, a girl behind the counter, bring him a knife so he can end his life. "I won't do it, I tell ya," she replies. The exchange seems hokey on its face, but the delivery and passion behind it is just enough to make this bit of awkward dialog work. You laugh at it (though you wouldn't in real life). Loretta and Ronny eventually fall into each other's arms, and the ball is set rolling.
You know they'll fall in love and you know they'll be together in the end; what you don't know is exactly how it will happen. The joy is in the journey, and the incredible dialog along the way. Seriously, if you haven't yet seen it, Moonstruck is one of the most amazing films you'll encounter. You'll want to sink into it again and again. I know I will.
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