Moonstruck: ah, love's sweet lunacy!

Ah that ol' devil moon! There's no resisting that old call...

About once a year I pop this one in the DVD player to cheer myself up when I start doubting love's magical powers. Director Norman Jewison dishes up a movie for us here that's better than any comfort food you can think of. Centering around this story is a triangle of two men and a woman -- the brothers, Johnny (Danny Aiello) and Ronnie (Nicholas Cage) Cammareri and Loretta Castorini Clark (Cher). Having dated for what has seemed forever, Johnny one night over dinner pops the big question to Loretta -- and being the dufuss he is, Johnny does it without a shred of romance or even heart. But Loretta doesn't mind, she thinks she's cursed (she's a widow, you see, her husband got hit by a bus), and Johnny is more or less the best that she's ever going to get. So she says yes.

Great, says Johnny (who, coincidently, is flying off to Naples to see his ancient mother on her deathbed), go invite my brother to the wedding.

And that's where the trouble starts. For Johnny has forgotten an important little detail -- there's one heckuva grudge between the two brothers. And when Loretta goes to the bakery that Ronnie owns, well, the sparks fly.

And we get pitched headlong into Loretta's mixed-up, messed up family, from her taciturn Grandpa (wonderfully played by Feodor Chaliapin), her parents Rose and Cosmo (Olympia Dukakis and Vince Gardenia), to her aunt Rita and uncle Raymond. And everything centers around love in this, from the deep and richly happy marriage of her aunt and uncle, to the awful state of her parents, illicit love, love of home, even that of pets and owner, they hit all the bases.

All the way through here is bits of fairy tales, from Beauty and the Beast to Cinderella (note the name of the beauty parlor that Loretta slips into on the night of the big date). The background music is that of Pucini's La Boheme, as sung by Placido Domingo and Mirella Freni, and it's perfect.

Best of all are the women, grappling with the troubles of love, keeping their families together, dealing with doubt and worry. There's something true in their characters here, even if it is a little over the top in this Italian-American family living in Brooklyn. Even the two brothers are drawn with a broad brush, but once I thought about it a bit, I realized that Jewison was writing his own version of opera -- where the players are a bit too broad for the stage, but you don't care -- it's part of the magic of the story.

There's also some hilarious one liners in this -- especially as delivered by Rose, who uses a sharp tongue to mask her aching heart. Cher is passionate, fiery and a lot of fun to watch, as well as Nicholas Cage whose Ronnie is a secret poet, with his love of opera and music and maimed hand. By the end of the film, all the tangles are neatly smoothed out and we get a happy glow at true love triumphant and the right brother gets the girl.

So don't let the fact that Cher is in this one stop you -- it's not a musical, there's a little profanity and nudity, but nothing offensive, and the acting is top notch as well as the setting, from the brownstones of Brooklyn, a full moon over New York City, and the sheer gorgeousness of the Metropolitan Opera. Cuddle up with someone you love and enjoy!