| Mystic Pizza | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Donald Petrie |
| Produced by | Mark Levinson |
| Written by | Amy Holden Jones Perry Howze Randy Howze Alfred Uhry |
| Starring | Annabeth Gish Julia Roberts Lili Taylor Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio William R. Moses Adam Storke Conchata Ferrell |
| Music by | David McHugh |
| Cinematography | Tim Suhrstedt |
| Editing by | Don Brochu Marion Rothman |
| Distributed by | The Samuel Goldwyn Company |
| Release date(s) | October 21, 1988 |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6 million |
| Box office | $12,793,213 |
Mystic Pizza is a 1988 American coming of age film directed by Donald Petrie and starring Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, and Lili Taylor.[1]
The title of the film was based on a pizza shop that caught the eye of Hollywood screen writer, Amy Holden Jones.[2] The restaurant is also named Mystic Pizza in Mystic, Connecticut, and has been popular among both locals and tourists since 1973.[3]
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The film is about the coming of age of two sisters and their friend through the romantic lives of the three main characters: Kat Araujo (Annabeth Gish), Daisy Araujo (Julia Roberts), and Jojo Barbosa (Lili Taylor), who are waitresses at Mystic Pizza in Mystic, Connecticut. In the film, Mystic is represented as a fishing town with a large Portuguese American population, though that description more closely resembles neighbouring Stonington, Connecticut, where many scenes were filmed.
The movie also touches on an Old World work ethic. Kat and Daisy are sisters and rivals: Kat studies astronomy, works at a local planetarium, as well as the restaurant, and has been accepted to attend Yale University on a partial scholarship. Daisy just wants to find love through lust while trying to get out of Mystic. Kat is the apple of her Portuguese mother's eye, while Daisy is not: she is promiscuous and is not as goal-oriented as her younger sister.
There is also a dynamic between Kat's Anglo-American employer and the resulting relationship between them. The class distinctions and variant European heritages are explored in various scenes of the film.
Vincent D'Onofrio, William R. Moses, Adam Storke, and Conchata Ferrell co-star. In his screen debut, Matt Damon has a small part—his sole line in the film being, "Mom, do you want my green stuff?" while eating lobster.
The film opened on October 21, 1988, to mostly favorable reviews, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 88% at its VHS release.[4] The film received "two thumbs up" from popular film critics Siskel and Ebert,[5] giving particular praise to the three female leads, including Gish, whom Ebert likened to a "young Katharine Hepburn."[6] He also noted that the film "may someday become known for the movie stars it showcased back before they became stars."
On January 13, 2009, Mystic Pizza and Say Anything... were released as double feature on DVD.[7]
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