Mystic Pizza
A 1988 coming of age drama called Mystic Pizza doesn't offer anything unconventional in terms of storytelling or film technique, but it is the film that made moviegoers sit up and take notice of an actress named Julia Roberts and her performance alone makes this one worth a look.

This is the story of three female besties who grew up together in the tiny hamlet of Mystic, Connecticut (I google it, it's a real place) and now all work together in the same pizza parlor.
The bookish and virginal Kat (Annabeth Gish) has recently accepted a job as babysitter to a cute kid and finds herself crushing on the girl's hunky single dad (Billy Moses); Daisy (Roberts) is a sexual free spirit who finds herself drawn to wealthy college student (Adam Storke); JoJo (Lilli Taylor) is trying to repair her relationship with her fiancee, Bill (Vincent D'Onofrio) after passing out at the altar at the beginning of their wedding.

I was a little surprised that it took three screenwriters to come up with this paper thin story, that is about as predictable as they come. We have the three girls stuck in dead end jobs that they all hate; however, none of them are really doing anything about it. They seem more concerned about getting laid than getting ahead and their constant whining about it makes you want to do a Loretta in Moonstruck and tell them to "snap out of it!" We've seen a million movies with stories like this where the main characters are guys, but for some reason, having the same kind of characters female, makes them seem a little more pathetic and unsympathetic.

But the problems with the film seem to fall to the wayside whenever Julia Roberts is center stage, luminous in only her third feature film appearance. Her Daisy is a fiercely sexual creation of the actress and director that rings true every time the camera comes her way. I was also impressed that Daisy uses sex as a weapon and admits it free and openly,. The chemistry she creates with Storke is pretty strong, It was a little sad to learn, via IMDB, that Storke hasn't worked since 2018 in the television series Westworld.

The direction by Donald Petrie (Miss Congeniality) is static and makes the film seem longer than it really is. Lilli Taylor provides her accustomed charismatic turn as the hot mess JoJo and I was shocked by the sex on legs performance by D'Onofrio as Bill...yes, Vincent D'Onofrio, sexy as hell looking like a young Tim Robbins, but this is Roberts' movie and hardcore fans will not be disappointed.
A 1988 coming of age drama called Mystic Pizza doesn't offer anything unconventional in terms of storytelling or film technique, but it is the film that made moviegoers sit up and take notice of an actress named Julia Roberts and her performance alone makes this one worth a look.

This is the story of three female besties who grew up together in the tiny hamlet of Mystic, Connecticut (I google it, it's a real place) and now all work together in the same pizza parlor.
The bookish and virginal Kat (Annabeth Gish) has recently accepted a job as babysitter to a cute kid and finds herself crushing on the girl's hunky single dad (Billy Moses); Daisy (Roberts) is a sexual free spirit who finds herself drawn to wealthy college student (Adam Storke); JoJo (Lilli Taylor) is trying to repair her relationship with her fiancee, Bill (Vincent D'Onofrio) after passing out at the altar at the beginning of their wedding.

I was a little surprised that it took three screenwriters to come up with this paper thin story, that is about as predictable as they come. We have the three girls stuck in dead end jobs that they all hate; however, none of them are really doing anything about it. They seem more concerned about getting laid than getting ahead and their constant whining about it makes you want to do a Loretta in Moonstruck and tell them to "snap out of it!" We've seen a million movies with stories like this where the main characters are guys, but for some reason, having the same kind of characters female, makes them seem a little more pathetic and unsympathetic.

But the problems with the film seem to fall to the wayside whenever Julia Roberts is center stage, luminous in only her third feature film appearance. Her Daisy is a fiercely sexual creation of the actress and director that rings true every time the camera comes her way. I was also impressed that Daisy uses sex as a weapon and admits it free and openly,. The chemistry she creates with Storke is pretty strong, It was a little sad to learn, via IMDB, that Storke hasn't worked since 2018 in the television series Westworld.

The direction by Donald Petrie (Miss Congeniality) is static and makes the film seem longer than it really is. Lilli Taylor provides her accustomed charismatic turn as the hot mess JoJo and I was shocked by the sex on legs performance by D'Onofrio as Bill...yes, Vincent D'Onofrio, sexy as hell looking like a young Tim Robbins, but this is Roberts' movie and hardcore fans will not be disappointed.
Last edited by Gideon58; 01-26-25 at 12:16 AM.