Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
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.
Moonstruck is a warm, witty romantic comedy elevated well above its genre peers almost entirely by its performances. Cher and Nicolas Cage are magnetic together, and the ensemble — Olympia Dukakis (Oscar-winning), Vincent Gardenia, Danny Aiello — gives the film a richly layered Italian-American family texture. The plot is a fairly conventional love-triangle/family-secrets story, competent but not inventive, and the cinematography is pleasant Brooklyn-winter atmosphere without being visually distinguished. The ending resolves things cheerfully but predictably. Novelty sits in the middle — it has a distinct warmth and operatic romantic tone that sets it apart from generic rom-coms, but it doesn't radically reinvent anything. Its reputation rests squarely on its exceptional cast.