Moonstruck

"Life. Family. Love."

1987 1h 42m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

🔥

90%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.2

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 1,155🍅90%Rotten Tomatoes●83Metacritic★7.2IMDB · 76,420

ComedyDramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

37-year-old Italian-American widow Loretta Castorini believes she is unlucky in love, and so accepts a marriage proposal from her boyfriend Johnny, even though she doesn't love him. When she meets his estranged younger brother Ronny, an emotional and passionate man, she finds herself drawn to him. She tries to resist, but Ronny, who blames his brother for the loss of his hand, has no scruples about aggressively pursuing her while Johnny is out of the country. As Loretta falls for Ronny, she learns that she's not the only one in her family with a secret romance.

“Life. Family. Love.”

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Cast

Cher
Loretta Castorini
Nicolas Cage
Ronny Cammareri
Vincent Gardenia
Cosmo Castorini
Olympia Dukakis
Rose Castorini
Danny Aiello
Mr. Johnny Cammareri
Julie Bovasso
Rita Cappomaggi
John Mahoney
Perry
Louis Guss
Raymond Capomaggi

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Norman Jewison
Writers: John Patrick Shanley
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 8.1× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

39 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Norman Jewison, shot by David Watkin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dick Hyman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Lou Lombardo shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Cher and Nicolas Cage and Vincent Gardenia carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Life. Family. Love.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Norman Jewison directs. David Watkin behind the camera. Dick Hyman scores. Lou Lombardo cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 8.1× over at the box office.
239 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
4Directed by Norman Jewison, shot by David Watkin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Dick Hyman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Lou Lombardo shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Cher and Nicolas Cage and Vincent Gardenia carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Life. Family. Love.".
9IMDB entry: tt0093565 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 34 themes, including "opera", "marriage proposal", "husband wife relationship", "italian american".
11Released under 37 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: David Watkin
Original score: Dick Hyman
Editing: Lou Lombardo
Production design: Philip Rosenberg
Makeup / hair: Ann Brodie
VFX supervisor: Mark Vargo
Sound: Joe Grimaldi
Runtime: 102 min · 1h 42m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $15,000,000
Box office: $122,100,000
Return: 814% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Moonstruck (1987)
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 83/100
IMDB rating: 7.2/10 · 76,420 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

Won 3 Oscars. 18 wins & 19 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Norman Jewison

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-01-14
★ 7/10
With his mother seemingly on her deathbed, "Loretta" (Cher) agrees to marry the kindly but rather dull "Johnny" (Danny Aiello) only to find herself amidst a family grudge. He won't invite his brother "Ronny" (Nicolas Cage) to the wedding. She decides to put an end to this childishness and so goes to confront him. It seems he has a good reason for their falling out, but she's determined to reconcile them. He is quickly smitten with his soon to be in-law, and the most Italian of intricate courtships begins - thanks in part to Puccini's "La Boheme" at the Metropolitan Opera - that sees her become genuinely conflicted, much to the frustrated chagrin of her mother "Rose" (Olympia Dukakis). What now ensues is a gently comedic story of burgeoning love, family politics and fair degree of lust! Can they find a way out of their predicament without hurting poor "Johnny", or inducing an heart attack on her increasingly perplexed father "Cosmo" (Vincent Gardenia)? There's quite some chemistry between Cher and Cage as his charm and personality wears her down turning both into, quite literally, moonstruck calves! Norman Jewison allows his character actors to be just that, Dukakis is on great form and the writing is peppered with some, admittedly rather predicable, humour that offers a stylish and engaging romance that bubbles nicely like a good ragout. It's charmingly augmented by a bit of Dean Martin too!

Production companies