Mystic Pizza (1988)

A sweet and sassy comedy about the bonds of sisterhood, Mystic Pizza offers the opportunity to see some solid young actors early in their careers. Three sisters of blue-collar Portuguese descent work in a pizzeria in the coastal town of Mystic, Connecticut. Each has her own unique romantic entanglements. One is the fast girl in town (Julia Roberts), who falls for a rich kid but wonders if she'll ever be accepted; one is the lifelong local girl (Lili Taylor) in love with her fisherman boyfriend (Vincent D'Onofrio) but scared of what marriage will do to their sex lives; and the youngest sister (Annabeth Gish) dreams of going to Yale but during a summer of baby-sitting has an affair with a married man. Through it all each sister depends on the others regardless of the complications. It's the alluring charm of the three disparate leads that makes Mystic Pizza the delightful experience it is. --Robert Lane Amazon.com

Mythic Pizza

Mystic Pizza is a workplace drama that takes place on the East Coast in the town of Mystic, Connecticut. It was filmed at the actual pizza parlor that inspired Amy Jones to write the story, in the town of Mystic at 55 West Main St. After the movie came out the joint became very popular. The movie isn't that great, but like pizza, even a bad pizza is still pretty good. Hey, it's pizza. The town is a fishing village with a high concentration of Portuguese, which is what Daisy (Julia Roberts) and Kat Arujo (Annabeth Gish) are. They have so much lobster there that the locals actually get tired of it. That's when they go out for pizza.

Mystic Pizza is best remembered as the film that launched Julia Roberts on the road to stardom. Her smile lights up the silver screen, and it is very apparent that the camera loves her. It was also among the first films to feature Annabeth Gish and Lili Taylor. It marks the feature film debut of Matt Dammon as well, but he has such a small part that if you blink you can miss it. His character, Steamer, has the immortal line: "Hey, mom, do you want your green stuff?" Ben Affleck auditioned for the part as well. Why am I not surprised?

Two other actors in Mystic Pizza are very familiar due to television: Conchata Ferrell plays Charlie Sheen's housekeeper Berta on Two and a Half Men and Vincent D'Onofrio is familiar from Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In Mystic Pizza he is much younger and skinnier, and his character, Billy, a fisherman who still lives at home with his mother, wants to marry Jo Jo (Lili Taylor) but she is the one who is afraid of commitment. She faints at her wedding and can't go through with it.

Meanwhile the Arujo sisters are quite different from each other. Katherine, or Kat as she's called, is the serious one, who works several jobs besides the pizza gig, saving up to go to Yale and study astronomy. Daisy is a different story, a pool hustler and party animal, she falls for a rich preppy, Charles Gordon Windsor, Jr (Adam Storke). She worries that she won't fit in with his rich family, but he has some issues of his own. He has been kicked out of law school for cheating, and that didn't go over very well with daddy. Neither does his choice of Daisy, but will true love prevail? Stay tuned. As for Kat, one of Kat's jobs is as a babysitter, but she falls for the father while the wife's away in London.

Finally, Leona, the owner of the restaurant, needs a good review from the local food critic to drum up business. If he would only taste the pizza, which is made from a secret family recipe, he would taste that it was... well, Mystic. Only trouble is he is notoriously fussy and hard to please.

The four story lines are interwoven well, and though it is not earth shattering drama, it is very enjoyable watching, with good acting, some funny and some emotional scenes, and a good location in Mystic, Connecticut. Plus, watching Roberts, Gish, and Taylor as pizza waitresses is kind of like watching them before they were stars. Which none of them are... yet.



ANNABETH GISH

Mojave Phone Booth (2006) .... Beth
The Celestine Prophecy (2006) .... Julia
Gillery's Little Secret (2006) .... Gillery
Knots (2004) .... Greta Siegel
Buying the Cow (2002) .... Nicole, Sarah's Friend
Pursuit of Happiness (2001) .... Marissa
Morning (2000) .... Lily
Double Jeopardy (1999) .... Angela 'Angie' Green
SLC Punk! (1998) .... Trish
Steel (1997) .... Susan Sparks
Beautiful Girls (1996) .... Tracy Stover
Nixon - Collector's Edition (1995) .... Julie Nixon Eisenhower
The Last Supper (1995) .... Paulie
Wyatt Earp (1994) .... Urilla Sutherland
Silent Cries (1993) .... Hazel Hampton
Coupe de Ville (1990) .... Tammy
Shag (1989) .... Caroline 'Pudge' Carmichael
Mystic Pizza (1988) .... Kat Arujo
Desert Bloom (1986) .... Rose Chismore

JULIA ROBERTS

Fireflies in the Garden (2008) .... Lisa Waechter
Charlie Wilson's War (Widescreen) (2007) .... Joanne Herring
Charlotte's Web (2006) (voice) .... Charlotte the Spider
The Ant Bully (2006) (voice) .... Hova
Ocean's Twelve (2004) .... Tess Ocean
Closer (2004/I) .... Anna
Mona Lisa Smile (2003) .... Katherine Ann Watson
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) .... Patricia Watson
Full Frontal (2002) .... Catherine / Francesca
Grand Champion (2002) .... Jolene
Ocean's Eleven (2001) .... Tess Ocean
America's Sweethearts (2001) .... Kathleen "Kiki" Harrison
The Mexican (2001) .... Samantha Barzel
Erin Brockovich (2000) .... Erin Brockovich
Runaway Bride (1999) .... Maggie Carpenter
Notting Hill (1999) .... Anna Scott
Stepmom (1998) .... Isabel Kelly
Conspiracy Theory (1997) .... Alice Sutton
My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) .... Julianne Potter
Everyone Says I Love You (1996) .... Von Sidell
Michael Collins (1996) .... Kitty Kiernan
Mary Reilly (1996) .... Mary Reilly
Something to Talk About (1995) .... Grace King Bichon
Ready to Wear (1994) .... Anne Eisenhower
I Love Trouble (1994) .... Sabrina Peterson
The Pelican Brief (1993) .... Darby Shaw
Hook (1991) .... Tinkerbell
Dying Young (1991) .... Hilary O'Neil
Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) .... Laura Burney
Flatliners (1990) .... Dr. Rachel Mannus
Pretty Woman (1990) .... Vivian Ward
Steel Magnolias (Special Edition) (1989) .... Shelby Eatenton Latcherie
Blood Red (1989) .... Maria Collogero
Mystic Pizza (1988) .... Daisy Arujo

LILI TAYLOR

Starting Out in the Evening (2007) .... Ariel Schiller
The Notorious Bettie Page (2005) .... Paula Klaw
Factotum (2005) .... Jan
Casa de los babys (2003) .... Leslie
Gaudi Afternoon (2001) .... Ben
Julie Johnson (2001) .... Julie Johnson
High Fidelity (2000) .... Sarah Kendrew
The Haunting (1999) .... Eleanor 'Nell' Vance
A Slipping-Down Life (1999) .... Evie Decker
Pecker (1998) .... Rorey Wheeler
Come to (1998) .... Angela
The Impostors (1998) .... Lily 'Lil'
O.K. Garage (1998) .... Rachel
Kicked in the Head (1997) .... Happy
Ransom (1996) .... Maris Conner
Cosas que nunca te dije (1996) .... Ann
Illtown (1996) .... Micky
Killer: A Journal of Murder (1996) (uncredited) .... Woman in Speakeasy
I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) .... Valerie Jean Solanas
Girls Town (1996) .... Patti Lucci
Plain Pleasures (1996)
The Addiction (1995) .... Kathleen Conklin
Four Rooms (1995) .... Raven (segment "The Missing Ingredient")
Cold Fever (1995) .... Jill
Prêt-à-Porter (1994) .... Fiona Ulrich
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994) .... Edna Ferber
Touch Base (1994) .... Darcy Winningham
Rudy (1993) .... Sherry
Household Saints (1993) .... Teresa Carmela Santangelo
Short Cuts (1993) .... Honey Bush
Watch It (1993) .... Brenda
Arizona Dream (1993) .... Grace Stalker
Dogfight (1991) .... Rose
Bright Angel (1991) .... Lucy
Born on the Fourth of July (1989) .... Jamie Wilson - Georgia
Say Anything... (1989) .... Corey Flood
Mystic Pizza (1988) .... Jojo

VINCENT D'ONOFRIO

The Narrows (2008) .... Vinny Manadoro
"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" .... Detective Robert Goren / ... (123 episodes, 2001-2008)
... aka Law & Order: CI (USA: promotional abbreviation)
- Frame (2008) TV episode .... Detective Robert Goren
- Legacy (2008) TV episode .... Detective Robert Goren
- Vanishing Act (2008) TV episode .... Detective Robert Goren
- Please Note We Are No Longer Accepting Letters of Recommendation from Henry Kissinger (2008) TV episode .... Detective Robert Goren
- Betrayed (2008) TV episode .... Det. Robert Green
(118 more)
The Break-Up (2006) .... Dennis Grobowski
Five Minutes, Mr. Welles (2005) .... Orson Welles
Thumbsucker (2005) .... Mike Cobb
The Salton Sea (2002) .... Pooh-Bear
The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002) .... Father Casey
Bark! (2002) .... Dr. Malcolm
Impostor (2001) .... Hathaway
Chelsea Walls (2001) .... Frank
The Cell (2000) .... Carl Stargher
Steal This Movie (2000) .... Abbie Hoffman
Happy Accidents (2000) .... Sam Deed
The Thirteenth Floor (1999) .... Jason Whitney / Jerry Ashton
Spanish Judges (1999) .... Max
The Velocity of Gary (1998) .... Valentino
Claire Dolan (1998) .... Elton Garrett
The Newton Boys (1998) .... Dock Newton
Guy (1997) .... Guy
Men in Black (1997) .... Edgar
Boys Life 2 (1997) .... Tony Randozza (segment "Nunzio's Second Cousin")
Good Luck (1996) .... Tony 'Ole' Olezniak
Feeling Minnesota (1996) .... Sam Clayton
The Winner (1996) .... Philip
The Whole Wide World (1996) .... Robert E. 'Bob' Howard
Strange Days (1995) .... Burton Steckler
Stuart Saves His Family (1995) .... Donnie - The Smalley Family
Hotel Paradise (1995) .... The Naked Stranger
Nunzio's Second Cousin (1994) .... Sgt. Tony Randozza
Imaginary Crimes (1994) .... Mr. Webster
Ed Wood (1994) .... Orson Welles
Mr. Wonderful (1993) .... Dominic
Household Saints (1993) .... Joseph Santangelo
Being Human (1993) .... Priest
Salt on Our Skin (1992) .... Gavin
The Player (1992) .... David Kahane
JFK (1991) .... Bill Newman
Naked Tango (1991) .... Cholo
Fires Within (1991) .... Sam
Dying Young (1991) .... Gordon
Crooked Hearts (1991) .... Charley
The Blood of Heroes (1989) (as Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio) .... Young Gar
Signs of Life (1989) (as Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio) .... Daryl Monahan
Mystic Pizza (1988) (as Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio) .... Bill
Adventures in Babysitting (1987) (as Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio) .... Dawson / 'Thor'
Full Metal Jacket (1987) .... Pvt. Pyle

CONCHATA FERRELL

"Two and a Half Men" .... Berta (82 episodes, 2003-2008)
- Taterhead Is Our Love Child (2008) TV episode .... Berta
- Waiting for the Right Snapper (2008) TV episode .... Berta
- Fish in a Drawer (2008) TV episode .... Berta
- Look at Me, Mommy, I'm Pretty (2008) TV episode .... Berta
- Rough Night in Hump Junction (2008) TV episode .... Berta
(77 more)
Kabluey (2007) .... Kathleen
Surviving Eden (2004) .... Rosemary Flotchky
Mr. Deeds (2002) .... Jan
K-PAX (2001) .... Betty McAllister
Erin Brockovich (2000) .... Brenda
Crime and Punishment in Suburbia (2000) .... Bella
Touch (1997) .... Virginia Worrel
My Fellow Americans (1996) .... Woman Truck Driver
Freeway (1996) .... Mrs. Sheets
A Worn Path (1994) .... Nurse
Heaven & Earth (1993) .... Bernice
True Romance (1993) .... Mary Louise Ravencroft
Family Prayers (1993) .... Mrs. Romeyo
Samurai Cowboy (1993) .... Bobbi Bob Pickette
Edward Scissorhands (1990) .... Helen
Mystic Pizza (1988) .... Leona
For Keeps? (1988) .... Mrs. Bobrucz
Portrait of a White Marriage (1988)
Where the River Runs Black (1986) .... Mother Marta
Heartland (1979) .... Elinore Randall Stewart
Network (1976) .... Barbara Schlesinger
Deadly Hero (1976) .... Slugger Ann

Steamer: Hey, mom, do you want your green stuff? September 15, 2008

Cute movie

The movie was pretty good. Some funny parts. Not my favorite Roberts movie but it was early in her career. June 2, 2008

Love this Movie!

I remember this movie when i was a teen. It was my favorite movie. When i noticed it on Amazon i new i had to get it for my collection. I still love it. My husband says it's a "chick flick". I don't care! It brings me back to the 80's. March 31, 2008

Classic 80s Movie

This movie stars Julia Roberts, Lili Taylor, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Storke. The movie tells the story of 3 girls living in a small town named Mystic. It's a great "Friday night with the gang" movie. You'll laugh, cry and rejoice with the characters. February 17, 2008

*Great Movie!*

I really liked it.A great movie for women.A movie I can watch again and again. February 7, 2008

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