Mystic Pizza

Mystic Pizza
Theatrical release poster
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 dates	October 21, 1988 (1988-10-21)
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] Vincent D'Onofrio, William R. Moses, Adam Storke, and Conchata Ferrell co-star.

In his film 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 title of the film was based on a pizza shop that caught the eye of Hollywood screenwriter, 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]

Plot

The film is about the coming of age of two sisters and their friend through the romantic lives of the three main characters: Kat Arujo (Annabeth Gish), Daisy Arujo (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. The film 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, a father who has hired her to look after his young daughter while his wife is away, and the resulting relationship between them. The class distinctions and variant European heritages are explored in various scenes of the film.

Cast

• Annabeth Gish as Kat Arujo
• Julia Roberts as Daisy Arujo
• Lili Taylor as Jojo Barboza
• Vincent D'Onofrio as Bill (billed as Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio)
• William R. Moses as Tim Travers
• Adam Storke as Charles Gordon Windsor, Jr.
• Conchata Ferrell as Leona
• Joanna Merlin as Mrs. Arujo
• Porscha Radcliffe as Phoebe Travers
• Arthur Walsh as Manny
• John Fiore as Jake
• Matt Damon as Steamer

Critical response

The film opened on October 21, 1988 to mostly favorable reviews, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 78% 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."

Filming locations

Despite being set in Mystic, most of the filming locations were in neighboring towns. The building used for the pizza restaurant was a converted home in Stonington Borough at 70 Water St. There is a sailing business occupying the building now. After the film's release, the real-life Mystic Pizza building in downtown Mystic was renovated to resemble the movie set. The Windsor family home, the wedding reception restaurant, the Peg Leg Pub pool hall, and the fishing docks are also in Stonington Borough. The famous hitchhiking incident takes place on North Main Street in Stonington Town. The Arujo home is in Pawcatuck; the lobster business where Mrs. Arujo works and the wedding church are in Noank. Tim Travers' home and the Windsors' country club are in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. The most notable scenes that take place in Mystic are at the Mystic Seaport planetarium and at the drawbridge, where Jojo gets angry that Bill changed the name of his boat.^[7]

Home media

On January 13, 2009, Mystic Pizza and Say Anything... were released as a double feature on DVD.^[8] On April 5, 2011, Mystic Pizza was released on Blu-ray.^[9]

References in popular culture

• In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Alien from L.A.," Mystic Pizza is used an example of a feminine film.
• In the 30 Rock season two premiere episode, "SeinfeldVision", the character Jenna Maroney returns from summer break having starred in Mystic Pizza: The Musical. Her noticeable weight gain is attributed to eating 32 slices of pizza a week for the show.
• In one sub-plot of the Broken Lizard film, Puddle Cruiser, the main characters watch the film believing that Julia Roberts gets naked in it.
• Pepperidge Farm Goldfish snacks are packaged with biographical details of mascot Finn, including his favorite film, Optimistic Pizza.
• In Cougar Town, Laurie compares herself to Julia Roberts from Mystic Pizza when she visits the country club.
• In the episode "Run Away, Little Boy" of Gilmore Girls, Paris (played by Liza Weil) compares the "whole small town, 'we don't let a clock run our lives' thing" from Stars Hollow with Mystic Pizza.
• In The Lonely Island song "No Homo", the group feels the need to emphasize that knowing all the lines of Mystic Pizza is not homo.
• In the TV series Parks and Recreation, the character Ron Swanson only knows Julia Roberts as "the toothy girl from Mystic Pizza".

References

External links

• Mystic Pizza at the Internet Movie Database
• Mystic Pizza at allmovie
• Mystic Pizza at Box Office Mojo
• Mystic Pizza at Rotten Tomatoes