La Bella Luna

While waiting for films worth watching to hit theaters again, I have decided to immerse myself in past Oscar winners. Always skeptical of a pop star who not only brings home a golden statue, but manages to beat Meryl Streep in the process, Cher's performance in Moonstruck (1987) seemed a good place to start.

Moonstruck tells the story of Loretta Castorini's second try at marriage. Convinced her first marriage was cursed, which ultimately led to her husband's untimely death, Loretta sets out to do it right the second time around, even if she happens to be without love for her fiance, Johnny. Soon after their engagement Johnny must travel to Sicily to tend to his dying mother, leaving Loretta with one request - contact his estranged brother, Ronny, with an invite to their upcoming nuptials. She visits Ronnie at his place of employment to hear the details of the fraternal rift and Ronnie's own disappointing love story.

The remainder of the film proves to be an education in love:

Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn't know this either, but love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and *die*. The storybooks are *bullshit*. Now I want you to come upstairs with me and *get* in my bed! ~ Ronny

Loretta believes deeply that failure to follow the rules of love will certainly result in a disappointing end. Her focus on embracing the right thoughts, actions, and plans is turned upside down by Ronny who basically tells her: mistakes will be made, bad choices happen, no one is perfect, no love will be either. I like the message he has to share. No flawed relationship (and even the one's that work best are flawed) will be without hardship, but go for it anyway. He knows that love is capable of heartbreak, that it can ruin a person, that it gives away some of the power one has to another. I think he's saying that's how it should be. The depth of love can be felt not only in its presence but also in its absence.

Making the message even better is the back and forth dialogue between Cher and Nicholas Cage, the understated perfomance of Olympia Dukakis, and her knows-best husband played by Vincent Gardenia. The bluntness paired with outbursts of emotional fervor characterizes the comings and goings of this Italian American family making for a truly enjoyable romantic comedy.