Moonstruck

Loretta Castorini, an Italian-American widow, works as a bookkeeper and lives in Brooklyn Heights with her parents, Cosmo and Rose, and her paternal grandfather. Loretta’s boyfriend, Johnny Cammareri, proposes to her before leaving for Sicily to tend to his dying mother. Loretta accepts, but she insists on carefully following tradition as she believes failing to do so originally led to her first husband’s sudden death after two years of marriage.
Johnny asks Loretta to invite his estranged younger brother Ronny to the wedding; Ronny and Johnny have not spoken in five years. Loretta returns home and informs her parents of the engagement. Cosmo, who runs a successful plumbing business, dislikes Johnny and is reluctant to pay for Loretta’s planned ”real” wedding. Hearing that Loretta likes but does not love Johnny, Rose tells her that true love can cause romantic partners to be easily hurt by each other.
Loretta goes to see Ronny at the bakery he owns and learns Ronny has a wooden prosthetic hand caused by absentmindedly putting his hand in a bread slicer while having a conversation with Johnny; Ronny’s fiancée subsequently left him. Loretta insists that they talk privately. They go to Ronny’s apartment, where Loretta cooks a meal, and both have several alcoholic beverages. Loretta compares Ronny to a wolf that would gnaw off its paw to escape a trap and claims he deliberately injured his hand to escape a bad relationship. Ronny reacts furiously and passionately, kissing Loretta; to her surprise, Loretta kisses him back. Ronny carries Loretta to his bed, where they make love.
That evening, Rose’s brother Raymond and his wife Rita join Rose, Cosmo, and Cosmo’s father for dinner and they wonder where Loretta is. Raymond recalls a particularly bright moon that he believes was in the sky when Cosmo was courting Rose, which Loretta and Ronny witness as well. The next morning, Loretta is overcome with guilt, but Ronny promises to never bother her again if she attends a performance of La bohème at the Met with him. Loretta goes to church to confess her infidelity and afterwards calls at Raymond and Rita’s store to close out the cash register. Upon leaving, she impulsively goes to a hair salon and buys a glamorous evening gown and shoes at a boutique.
Loretta is deeply moved by La bohème. While leaving the opera, she sees Cosmo, accompanied by his mistress, Mona, and confronts him. As Loretta is with Ronny, Cosmo suggests that Loretta keep their encounter a secret. Loretta attempts to return home, but Ronny desperately persuades her into another tryst. That same night, Rose dines alone at a restaurant and sees a college professor, Perry, being dramatically dumped by a female student.
Taking pity on Perry, Rose invites him to dine with her instead, allowing him to walk her home but refusing to invite him in because she is loyal to her marriage. Later, Johnny unexpectedly returns from Sicily after his mother’s ”miraculous” recovery and meets with Rose at the Castorini house. They agree that men chase after women for fear of death.
Returning home next morning, Loretta is distressed to learn from Rose that Johnny will be there soon. Ronny arrives, and Rose invites him for breakfast over Loretta’s objections. Cosmo and Grandpa emerge from upstairs; Grandpa insists that Cosmo agree to pay for Loretta’s wedding. Rose then confronts Cosmo and demands that he end his affair; he is upset but gives in and, at Rose’s insistence, also agrees to go to confession. Both reaffirm their love for each other.
Raymond and Rita arrive, concerned that Loretta had not deposited the previous day’s takings at the bank, and are relieved to learn that she merely forgot and still has the money. When Johnny finally arrives, he breaks off the engagement, superstitiously believing that their marriage would cause his mother’s death. Loretta berates Johnny for breaking his promise and throws the engagement ring at him. Ronny borrows the ring and asks Loretta to marry him, to which she agrees. The family toasts the couple with champagne and Johnny joins in at Grandpa’s urging, since he will now be part of the family after all.

1987

PG

9338683000972

Movie

2018-02-07 18:29:03

1.85:1

123

United States

1988-03-10

1.85:1

1

4

Slip Sleeve

~$8.33

2025-12-31

2018-02-07 18:29:03