Moonstruck

Director: Norman Jewison
Screenwriters: John Patrick Shanley

Institute History

  • 1988 Sundance Film Festival

Description

Moonstruck, directed by Norman Jewison from a script by Joh Patrick Shanley, is a fresh, sophisticated and mischievous comedy about the loves and jealousies of an eccentric Italian-American family from Brooklyn.

Loretta Castorini (Cher) is a dowdy widow who hopes to mend the bad blood between her fiance and his only brother by personally inviting him to their wedding. In the process, she falls in love with her prospective brother-in-law, the hot-headed and hot-blooded Ronny Cammereri (Nicholas Cage). Their romance sets in motion further entanglements affecting her entire family.

Director Jewison’s accomplishment is to have found the operatic qualities within Shanley’s script—the rolling dramatic crescendos—while keeping his character true to their street-smart roots. Cher, in particular, playing an overly-cautious widow, transformed into captivating radiance, is wonderfully convincing, harmonizing comic timing with warmth and volubility.

Screening Details

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