|
Movie Club: Moonstruck
|
But first, announcements!
Congratulations to Catie James, the winner of a signed copy of Jackie Barbosa’s BEHIND THE RED DOOR! Please email me your address, and I’ll get it in the mail to you.
Second, you could win a DVD of Moonstruck, or one of my other favorite movies, plus coverflats and goodies – just enter my movie club contest here! I’ll be drawing the May winners in just a few days.
Third, don’t forget – there’s now only one way to get an ARC (advance readers copy) of GODDESS OF THE HUNT, and that’s to bid on my gift basket in the Brenda Novak auction to benefit diabetes research. Bids close on May 31st!
And now, on with the show.
Moonstruck. Oh, how I love this movie, for so many reasons. But I will confine myself to a listing a few.
First, the film features one of my favorite pairings: The deliciously tortured hero and the no-nonsense heroine who refuses to coddle him. Ronny lost his hand in a bakery accident, and he’s still bitter and blaming his older brother, Johnny. When Johnny’s fiance, Loretta, comes to invite Ronny to the wedding, so many sparks fly between them they practically combust. Their dialogue is so wonderful.
One of the most memorable exchanges (sorry for video quality):
Or this speech by Ronny:
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 bull****. Now I want you to come upstairs with me and get in my bed.
Oh, and then there’s the opera. The opera! *sigh*
But the thing I adore most about this movie is the ending. I was tempted to embed the video, but it’s too long and a spoiler if you haven’t seen the whole thing. But what I love about it is that Ronny and Loretta are surrounded by all the people they love and who love them. In making their declarations of love and commitment, they’re not just an isolated couple, but part of a family, a neighborhood, a community, a culture. In my books, I have a tendency to write the final reunion and happy ending in the context of big group scenes–with families, party guests, or whole crowds looking on, because I love the idea that a happy ending is about more than just two people. It’s a part of a larger circle of love.
Do you have any favorite lines from Moonstruck, or other movies? Favorite ending scenes with public declarations of love?
May 28th, 2009 at 3:22 am · Link
I think one of the reasons I (like so many others) love weddings is due to that warm fuzzy feeling of watching two people stand before all their friends and family and declare their love for one another. Like weddings, happy endings in love stories are often about new beginnings:)
Honestly, I’m blanking on movie ending scenes right now. But I have entered my bids in Brenda Novak’s on-line auction and have my fingers crossed that she meets her goal of $300,000!
May 28th, 2009 at 8:10 am · Link
Thanks for the reminder about Brenda’s auction, so I can put in my bids.
I love that ending, as well. It was like being home, lol. It’s A Wonderful Life is like that. Most of the movie involves, not just George and Mary but everyone in their lives that they have touched and who have been touched by them.
50 First Dates has a great ending on a boat with Drew Barrymore’s character surrounded by all the people who love her, especially Adam Sandler’s character who makes sure all her days are reminders that she’s loved.
My favorite love declarations in books involve big ball scenes with a healthy smattering of groveling and if adorable orphans are thrown into the mix – it’s a keeper for me.
May 28th, 2009 at 9:17 am · Link
Moonstruck is one of the most romantic movies of all time, and one of the smartest. I love the contrast of Loretta and Ronny with Loretta’s parents. I think my favorite moment of the whole movie might be in that first scene when she fixes him the steak (the way she thinks he should eat it rather than the way he wants it) and hears about his history before telling him, “You’re a wolf.” The look on Ronny’s face and the way he scratches at his stubble gets me. Every. Time.
May 28th, 2009 at 10:58 am · Link
I’ve never seen this movie. How could that be? Huh.
One of my favorite movie speeches, besides the Kevin Costner one in Bull Durham which can’t really be beat, is in The Notebook when Noah is telling Ally that it’s not going to be easy.
“So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s going to be really hard; we’re gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me… everyday.”
Why is it guys like that only exist in fiction?
June 3rd, 2009 at 10:44 am · Link
I adore this movie! I can quote huge sections verbatim so picking only one favorite is impossible, but the
SMACK!
‘Snap out of it!’
is certainly a top contender.
I think the funniest part of the movie are the parents; the dad’s “Shh! Say no more!”, the mom’s world-weary “I just want you to know, you’re going to die.”
*happy sigh*
I think I have to go find it on TV and watch again, now.