2013
Formats
HDTV
Premise
Cher plays a bookkeeper from Brooklyn, who finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother (Nicolas Cage!) of the man she agreed to marry (the best friend of her late husband who died seven years previously). Confused much?
Loved
Olympia Dukakis. Insightful takes on romance and marriage. Gut-bustingly exciting climax.
Liked
Pretty much everything else.
Disliked
Cage's poor accent.
Thoughts
This still held up extremely well, and I'm not just talking about Cher's hair.
I loved the writing, creating memorable human characters while giving a nuanced, tender look into the different stages of love through multiple couples. Each relationship, romantic and familial, felt genuine. I would want to hang out and eavesdrop on them. With its brother love-triangle and heavy focus on family interaction, it reminded me of While You Were Sleeping. Although this one was much more insightful about marriage and love.
At times, the start of the subplots were inauspicious. Thankfully, writer John Patrick Shanley proved me wrong with interesting complications and smart themes. My favorite part was when all of the subplots masterfully crashed together with the Cher-Cage main storyline, setting the epicenter around the dinner table. Every new intruder exponentially added to the comedy and intensity to a hilarious climactic payoff.
Another great moment was a conflicted Cher quietly kicking a can down the street. Her outfit's condition, her performance, and the muted shot spoke poetic volumes without a line of dialog needed.
Which leads me to the fantastic cast. I'm not a fan of Cher's music, so it was great just enjoying her award-winning acting for what it was, chuckling bittersweetly at her obsession with bad luck love. Meanwhile, this was one of Cage's best performances I've ever seen, despite sporting the worst Italian-American accent ever. Even though his character was a drama queen, he made it lovable while actually toning down his Cage-ness.
But the true scene stealer here was Olympia Dukakis, who rightfully deserved her best supporting performance. At first, I feared she was stuck with a lame scorned-woman role in the first half. But in the second hour, her and the writing flipped that trope upside its head, culminating in multiple great lines and haunting truths. Also, young John Mahoney!
Aside from Cage's bad accent, there was only a couple of nitpicks. The setup/premise was convoluted and hard to explain (classic example of a non-high-concept script that would have difficulty in the current tentpole-driven studio system). Also, some resolutions, especially the ending, were a bit neat and tidy that didn't perfectly fit the theme of believable characters.
Aside from a little bit of play-like quality, Moonstruck hardly felt dated. The clever writing, wonderful performances, timeless themes, and unforgettable characters made this rom-com into simply a great film.
