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MGM has Moonstruck
out on Blu-ray now
and Cher’s Oscar
winning performance
looks great on the
format and a story
about life, love,
and family gets new
life in high-def.
Loretta Catorini is
a widow who’s been
seeing the same guy
for a few years.
She’s almost in her
forties, her
boyfriend is
apparently in his
forties and she’s
given up on love and
accepted that if she
doesn’t want to be
alone… it’s ‘this’
guy she has to be
with. So when her
boyfriend Johnny
Cammareri pops the
question before
going to Italy,
Loretta isn’t
exuberant, but she’s
content and she
moves on with her
life with the
decision that she’s
going to marry her
boyfriend Johnny,
who she likes… but
doesn’t love. Before
Johnny goes off to
Italy he asks her to
do one thing. Get in
touch with his
brother and ask him
to come to the
wedding. Loretta
gets in touch with
Johnny’s brother
Ronny and they fall
in love in a very
awkward situation.
So Loretta now has
to move on from her
past and her ‘bad
luck’ and decide
whether she’ll end
up with Johnny or
Ronny.
Moonstruck
is given this
fantastic look by
director Norman
Jewison. Really, the
movie shows New York
wonderfully. There’s
a great look to
everything and he
got a lot out of
Cher. Cher’s
performance as
Loretta probably
isn’t worthy of an
Oscar here, but it’s
admirable. She did a
great job and
wardrobe and make up
did a great job of
making her look the
part at all times.
When she was
supposed to be this
plain/older/woman
she looked the part,
after a makeover-
she looked that part
too. The best part
of this movie isn’t
Cher and it’s not
Jewison. It’s all of
the supporting
actors, Olympia
Dukakis and Vincent
Gardenia are
hilarious as
Loretta’s parents.
Every other
supporting role was
casted terrifically
too. The supporting
actors in
Moonstruck
make the movie.
What’s wrong with
Moonstruck?
It begins and ends
with Nicolas Cage. I
love Nicolas Cage,
but clearly he’s
evolved as an actor
over the years,
because in
Moonstruck
he was awful. More
than awful, he was
atrocious. He wasn’t
just wooden, he was
Pinocchio-wooden. It
was rough.
On Blu-ray again-
you can only do so
much for a picture
based on its source
material. The film
looks great, but
aged in spots too.
The audio sounds
fantastic though
with an amazing
soundtrack with some
great opera pieces
and the classic
“That’s Amore” by
Dean Martin sounding
fantastic. On Blu-ray
the bonus features
aren’t new, they
used some old DVD
features which
include an Italian
food feature… that’s
just awful. There’s
some making of
features that are
great. There’s also
a good commentary
track but that’s
about it for special
features, not
amazing, but pretty
good.
Moonstruck
is a great movie
because of some
funny supporting
characters and a
fantastic script.
Cher wasn’t amazing
in her role and she
probably didn’t
deserve her Oscar
but she was good
enough and she got
it regardless. You
have to wonder what
Moonstruck
would be like with a
different leading
woman. Would it have
been better or
worse? That’s hard
to tell. It’s still
a great movie and a
fun date-night
watch.
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