MOONSTRUCK is a perfect film made in 1987 by Norman Jewison and written by John Patrick Shanley. Loretta (played by Cher), a neurotic Italian woman in her mid-30s, is set to marry Johnny (Danny Aiello), a neurotic Italian man in his mid-40s, even though she doesn’t really love him. She meets his brother Ronny (Nic Cage) and falls into a whirlwind romance that starts to crumble her idea of what she wants from her life. MOONSTRUCK was acclaimed at release and is considered a classic romantic comedy, having won three Academy Awards (Best Actress for Cher as Loretta; Best Supporting Actress for Olympia Dukakis as Rose, Loretta's mother; and Best Screenplay for John Patrick Shanley).

Kick off the Trylon’s Nic Cage: National Treasure series with MOONSTRUCK and our accompanying episode – the best discussion you’ll find on the internet!

Links:

- “Moonstruck: Life in the In-Between” by Emily VanDerWerff for The Criterion Collection: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7192-moonstruck-life-in-the-in-between

- Buy tickets to EDDIE MURPHY (June 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/eddie-murphy/

- “NIC CAGE, NATIONAL TREASURE” (June - Aug 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/national-treasure/

- “GENE TIERNEY” (July 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/gene-tierney/

- “YAPHET KOTTO” (Aug 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/yaphet-kotto/

Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at [email protected] to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/.

Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing song: “That’s Amore” written by Harry Warren and Jack Brooks and performed by Dean Martin from the MOONSTRUCK soundtrack.

Timestamps

0:00 - Episode 177: MOONSTRUCK (1987)

4:40 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (under exclusive license from AG Enterprises)

6:11 - The ridiculous, romantic tightrope MOONSTRUCK walks

24:57 - Practical emotion and Loretta’s transformation

40:14 - Nic Cage’s ‘earnest commitment to absurdity’

53:04 - Perry, Cosmo, and infidelious foils

59:56 - The Junk Drawer (Magical realism and John Patrick Shanley)

1:04:20 - Cody’s Noteys: That’s A Garage Sale