Moonstruck
Starring Cher and Nicolas
Cage
Directed By Norman Jewison
Rated PC
What could cure an Italian
neighborhood in Brooklyn of
the disillusionment of growing
old, lost love and love gone
sour? A romantic moon, of
course, which jump starts an
Italian family with a surge of
passion in Norman Jewison’s
film “Moonstruck.” Cher plays
Loretta, a thirty-seven year old
widow who has been unlucky
with men. The marriage of her
parents, played by Olympia
Gardenia and Vincent Dukakis,
has lost a vital something, and
Loretta’s father tries to run
from old age by having an
affair with a younger woman.
Meanwhile, Loretta
becomes engaged to Johnny
Cammareri, who must return
to Sicily to visit his dying
mother. Johnny promises to
marry Loretta once his mother
has died. He also wants to
resolve a family feud with his
only brother, Ronny, and asks
Loretta to serve as the go-
between, inviting him to the
wedding. Nicolas Cage plays
this estranged younger brother,
a passionate man who believes
his life is over because his true
love left him when he lost his
hand in a bakery accident The
family fall-out is a result of this
accident which leaves Ronny
blaming Johnny for all his
misfortunes.
Sound ridiculous? Loretta
thinks so, and in trying to
convince Ronny to attend her
wedding she discovers his
energy and vitality, things
which had been missing from
her life. After a sizzling night of
passion, he begs her to attend a
performance of “La Boheme”
at the New York Metropolitan
Opera House.
In the meantime, Loretta’s
mother goes to a restaurant
alone, presumably because her
husband is out cheating
somewhere. There she meets
an eccentric and unprincipled
professor who answers her
question of “Why do men
chase women?”
To add to the confusion,
Loretta’s fiance returns from
Sicily unexpectedly. Everyone
involved slowly fills Loretta’s
kitchen to finally decide who
loves who and hnu; murh
Cher in “Moonstruck”
“Moonstruck” is a romantic
comedy that focuses on the
family, a very important part of
Italian life. Indeed, some of the
funniest scenes involve the
relationships of the family,
scenes which are humorous
because they happen in most
families.
“Moonstruck” succeeds as a
comedy because of the talent
of the cast. Instead of
oversensitizing the audience
with sentimentality, director
Norman Jewison goes
overboard the other direction,
saturating the film’s viewers
with a comv and humorous
<0-, ;
IV
y.Y
THE
MSC ALL NIGHT FAIR RND
ORIGINAL NEW YOAK SELTZER
- * 6 ' " s
lira
exposure to the Italian lifestyle.
A very important theme is
the opera “La Boheme,”
written by Puccini. The film
opens with a man putting a “La
Boheme” poster in a glass
display case at the Met. Ronny
has the same posters in his
apartment. Finally, Loretta’s
realizes she loves Ronny as she
weeps during the last act of the
opera.
In “La Boheme,” Rodolfo, a
starving poet, falls in love with
Mimi, a beautiful woman who
is sick with tuberculosis. In one
scene, their candles have
blown out, and in the dark they
search for Mimi’s key. Their
hands touch and Rodolfo
opens his famous aria with,
“Your little hand is frozen.
Won’t you let me warm it for
you?” He sings, “Ma per
fortuna-e una notte di luna, ”
which loosely translates to,
“fortunately for us, a night of
the moon. ” Struck by the
moonlight, and the passion of
this poet, Mimi falls in love. She
eventually dies though, just as
the quiet, unfulfilled part of
Loretta dies after she is
warmed by Ronny’s love into a
living, loving person.
Review by Matthew Stewart
Dana Cooper, vocals, acoustic
and electric guitar,harmonica;
Mark Millsap, bass; Drew
White, drums.
Morgenstern's, February 13.
An audience of
approximately 60 people was
on hand Saturday night as folk-
rocker Dana Cooper
celebrated the release of his
latest album, “Nuclear Family. ”
Cooper’s performance
featured several songs from
that record, with some of his
older material mixed in. The
show was half acoustic, with
Cooper performing solo on the
acoustic guitar, and his band
Nuclear Family joining in for
the other half.
The folk-oriented “King of
Fools” opened the first acoustic
set, as Cooper demonstrated
his skillful brand of folk-rock
music. He is a talented guitarist
whose style shows definite
country music influences that
blend well with his rock
technique.
After Cooper performed five
songs solo, bassist Mark Millsap
f
■ ^
PRESENT
BUNGLE
JUNGLE
FEBRUARY 20, 1988 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
MEMORIAL STUDENT CENTER
Page 4/At Ease/Thursday, February 18,1988