Moonstruck (1987)

This is one of those films that should have been better.
Loretta Castorini (Cher) is a thirty-seven year-old widow who lives with her parents and is a bookkeeper for (it looks like) several businesses owned by either friends or family. Her life is potentially even more boring than mine, but she isn't complaining. She does have a boyfriend, Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello), but she has to tell him how to propose to her when he finally decides it's time to get married. He doesn't get down on one knee and doesn't even have a ring for her. But she says yes. This time, she's determined to do it right, actually get married in a church and she insists that her father, Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia) pay for the wedding which he doesn't want to do because he doesn't like Johnny.
Then Johnny has to fly back to Italy to his mother's death bed and he wants Loretta to invite his brother to the wedding; they have been estranged for the last five years.
Finally, things get a little interesting in her life. Ronnie (Nicolas Cage) is a lonely, bitter baker, pissed off at his brother for an accident that happened five years ago. Ronnie was chatting with his brother while he was slicing bread and got his hand caught and then his fiance dumped him because of his new impediment. However, Loretta doesn't care about that. She wants to take care of him, just like she takes care of Johnny. Ronnie is still upset that Johnny is going to get a happy ending when he isn't, and then he tosses the table aside and plants a huge kiss on Loretta before lifting her up and taking her to his bed. That's right, and then the next morning, he's already decided that he loves her. I don't blame Loretta for slapping him and telling him to snap out of it.
But she still goes to the opera with him, so he can both things that he loves together for one night. His lovely speech on how love ruins things is, well, ruined because he is such a jerk, and won't take no for an answer when Loretta just wants to go home. He wants her in his bed.
The final scene is actually pretty good, when all of Loretta's family is together along with Ronnie and then Johnny shows up. In just two days, his mother made a miraculous recovery when Johnny said that he was getting married which makes him realize that he can't marry her. So instead, Ronnie proposes even though he's only known her for two days. Yeah, pretty unrealistic. And she says yes. Johnny, more or less, gives them his blessing.
Fortunately, there is a subplot that is fairly interesting. Olympia Dukakis is Loretta's mother Rose, a strong character who informs the local restaurant dumpee Perry (Frasier's John Mahoney) to stick to older women, not his students at NYU. And the look on her face when Johnny answers her question as to why men chase women is priceless.
Despite some good, fairly nature and authentic performances in this film, I just can't get behind the romance between Ronnie and Loretta, the age difference is too great and his character isn't good enough for the kind and caring Loretta. Without that good romance, the film suffers. The chemistry might be there but the couple is too oddly matched and the romance happens to quickly to be believed. Cher may have done well, but Holly Hunter was far better in Broadcast News and Glenn Close was better as the despicable character she portrayed in Fatal Attraction. They deserved the Oscar over Cher. Grade: B