Mystic Pizza
                               
Director: Donald Petrie
Year: 1988
Rating: 6.0
When this film was released in 1988 it created a bit of a stir. Not so much for the film which is a fine low-key story about friendship, love and heartbreak in a small New England town, but for the three young actresses. Reviews raved about them - fresh and natural. For all three it was their first film in a starring role. I have been wanting to re-watch this film for decades. I recall being one of those viewers who found these three actresses very intriguing. It is interesting to see where they went now in retrospect. The one that captured my heart back then was Annabeth Gish who Ebert compared to a young Katherine Hepburn. I think that was meant as a compliment though it would not have come to my mind. She has gone on to a fine career and is still active. As has Lili Taylor who appeared in a number of well-received performances in independent films. She is a delight in this as the girl who can't decide whether to get married or not. But it is the third actress who has gone on to fame and fortune - two years after this she became a global star playing a prostitute who won over the audience on a shopping spree. Julia Roberts. Her sex appeal in this pulses.



It is a small New England fishing town with most of the population working class of Portuguese descent. The three girls - Gish and Roberts being sisters - all work at Mystic Pizza owned by Conchata Ferrell (the housekeeper in Two and a Half Men). They are all on the cusp of womanhood and deciding where to go in their life. Working class shuts them out of opportunities. Gish is the smart steady common sense one with ambitions to go to Yale to study astronomy but with a scholarship that only covers half the cost. Roberts is the town beauty with her curly hair and smart take no shit mouth. Her only way out is finding a rich guy. The film starts with Lily in the church about to marry her long-time boyfriend fisherman played by Vincent D'Onofrio. Before the vows she faints in terror at the thought of spending her life in this small town. But she loves her man.



During the summer they all have to make decisions about life and love. That wealthy young man comes into Robert's life - playing a game of pool - one look at her and he is star struck but the class difference becomes apparent during a dinner with his family (Matt Damon in his debut with a small role). Gish begins babysitting for a man (William Moses) whose wife is away. You can't help but know where that is heading. And Lily bounces back and forth between her love and her fear. All these years later it felt a bit too slow and restrained, but still good to see these three actresses before they hit it big. Still like the Gish character the most.