Olympia Dukakis as Rose Castorini in Moonstruck

Best Supporting Actress at the 60th Annual Oscars (1987)

Notable Quote:

“Old man, you give those dogs another piece of my food and I'm gonna kick you 'til you're dead!”

Synopsis:

If you want the easy breezy family comedy of My Big Fat Greek Wedding mixed with the bizarre Nicholas Cage of The Wicker Man … well, I would’ve thought you’d be out of luck, but I can now recommend Moonstruck as the perfect movie for you!

The character:

Moonstruck is all about how excruciating love can be: it’s the theme of Loretta Castorini’s story, and it’s also the theme of her mother Rose’s side plot. Rose encourages her daughter to marry a man that she’s not in love with because, “when you love 'em, they drive you crazy, cuz they know they can.” She knows this because her husband, Cosmo, is cheating on her, and it hurts. She goes around demanding that people tell her why men chase women (it’s because they fear death), before finally, in an amazing scene, telling Cosmo to end his affair and reminding him, “Your life is not built on nothing.” The Oscars love a long suffering wife!

Also, more importantly, Rose is effing hilarious. Just like Loretta, she slings off these incredible zingers, almost always aimed at foolish men. For instance, while eating out alone one night, she meets this professor that always dates younger women (such a creep by the way, this man is continually dating his students!) and enjoys flirting with him. But she tells him off when he tries to convince her to actually sleep with him, reminding him that she’s married and telling him, “You're a little boy and you like to be bad.” She’s got an “I’ve seen it all and I’m unimpressed” energy throughout that really works.

The performance:

The most fascinating thing about Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck is that she’s doing a mirror of Cher’s performance, in that she’s powerful and present, but very restrained. It’s less exciting to me because it isn’t, ya know, Cher, but still. Rose feels like she’s really Loretta’s mom, and I have to believe that’s at least partly because Dukakis purposely matched Cher’s energy. I don’t have much to say beyond that to be honest. The word that comes to mind is “sturdy”: this performance doesn’t blow me away, but it’s strong and keeps the goofiness of the movie grounded.

The movie:

Dukakis’s win does at least give me the chance to gush more about Moonstruck, which I’ve just now decided is the most underrated movie of all time, fight me (don’t fight me, I hate conflict). First, I should mention Vincent Gardenia, who played Loretta’s father Cosmo, and also got a nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. He’s similar to Dukakis for me in that he’s not phenomenal, but puts in good work.

I should also mention the title of the movie, which ties to this story Loretta’s uncle tells about waking up and seeing this enormous moon one night, when Cosmo was courting Rose. I love that the moon has this magic about it, and it’s not necessarily tied to anything in particular, it just casts a (literal and figurative) glow over the whole film. It’s a great example of the way this movie creates such a lovely little world for the audience to inhabit for a couple of hours.

Was the Oscar deserved?

It’s not like this performance rocked my world, but Dukakis is solidly good, so I’ll say yes.