Mystic Pizza (1988)

Really Surprised!

The first must-see film of the year.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

In the small coastal town of Mystic, Connecticut, there is the title pizzeria run by an elder Portuguese couple with three young women as waitresses, two sisters who don't get along and their friend. The pizza served at the establishment is known to have a secret recipe which makes it especially wonderful, as a food critic in the story points out.The elder sister is set to go to Yale on a partial scholarship, while the younger one is less responsible and meets a young man from a rich family, hoping he might provide a means for her to leave her small town life. Their friend was set to marry her fiancé, but she fails to go through with it despite the fact the she still wants him. The sisters find romance, but said relationships do not go smoothly.Rather overlong and predictable, though the movie is notable for Matt Damon's first (minor) movie role and one of Julia Roberts' early starring roles.

Sisters Kat (Annabeth Gish) and Daisy (Julia Roberts) work with friend Jojo (Lili Taylor) at a local pizza place in Mystic, Connecticut. Kat is drawn to the father of the girl she is babysitting while his wife is away. Daisy falls for a rich guy who was slumming it one day at the pizza joint. Jojo passes out at her wedding, and is having second thoughts about her commitment to Bill (Vincent D'Onofrio).The girls are all great at their roles. The guys are somewhat flat. The stories are pretty traditional to have a good cry over. Although I liked that Daisy's guy didn't do the rich snob douche move.

There are no black, no Latino characters in this movie. In the town of Mystic the underclass are the "Portagee" (descendants of immigrant Portuguese) , well down the social ladder from the wealthy WASPs of the Connecticut Gold Coast.Annabeth Gish and Julia Roberts are cast as sisters but are in no way alike. Julia Roberts' character is aggressive, brassy, sexually loose. Her sister is the ingénue, bookish--headed for Yale on a partial scholarship--shy, virginal, maternal.Vincent D'Onofrio shows some of the range and talent that would later bring him a solid career in films and especially as the brilliantly eccentric Det. Bobby Goren on the long- running "Law & Order-Criminal Intent" TV series. His character is quite sympathetic, even sensitive though his partners on the fishing boat are all bull-necked, beer-swilling louts.The other two young, male characters come off far worse--and this seems to have harmed the careers of two then-promising actors. Blond, ivy league patrician William R. Moses, reminiscent of the young William Hurt, is portrayed as a cad for having had a brief affair with the Annabeth Gish character whom he has quite innocently hired to care for his young daughter (a real charmer) while his wife is off pursuing her career overseas. But the seduction is mutual, symbolized by young Annabeth ringing out the words "I'll have some wine" after the man offers her soft drinks.Maybe it's his name but the career of Adam Storke (sic) didn't go far, either. Here he plays a ne'er-do-well from a wealthy family. But he is not snobbish like his mother and aunt. His feelings for the Julia Roberts character are sincere. It is she who abuses him, first by playing a very nasty and destructive prank when she mistakenly believes he is out with another girl and later upbraiding him after he defends her at an elegant dinner party at his parents' home.On the good side, the pacing of the film is lively and features a riveting performance by Julia Roberts, when she still was relatively unknown.

I don't know why I like cheese pizza, but I sure like the taste. Maybe it's the sight of all that cheese, hot and melted, over the red spaghetti sauce. Maybe it's the scent that tickles my nose, and causes a smile to grace my face.The first time I tried it, it was dinnertime and I was seven years old. I had just seen what a pizza was, and the cheese pizza instantly caught my eye. Immediately, I knew that the cheese pizza would be my favorite food for life.Carefully, I hefted a small slice of the pizza onto my red paper plate and waited for a bit for it to cool down. After all, I didn't want to burn my mouth.Then when I was sure it was cool enough, I picked up a little bit of the pizza and dug in.It was fantastic! One of the best foods I'd ever tried. A gleeful smile spread out across my face as I savored the cheesiness of the flavor, the sauce underneath it, and best of all, the way it tasted really great.I will never forget that taste as long as I live.*********/10 -- -1 because I almost burned my mouth!