Julia Roberts’ true acting career started out with this fine little movie about love and life in the fishing community of Mystic, Connecticut. In the film, Julia plays Daisy, one of two sisters working at a pizzeria called Mystic Pizza. Daisy is basically a slacker, who lives off her looks and seems to have no clue what she wants out of life. By contrast, her sister, Kat (Annabeth Gish), knows that she wants to attend Yale and become an astronomer. Their mutual best friend, JoJo (Lili Taylor), wants to inherit the pizzeria and avoid college altogether.
The movie follows Daisy, Kat and JoJo as they pursue their lives over the course of a couple of months. Daisy falls for a rich out-of-towner named Charles Gordon Windsor (Adam Storke), who may or may not provide some direction to her life. Kat falls in love with Tim (William Moses), a married man she babysits for while his wife is in England. And JoJo tries to figure out her relationship with Bill (Vincent D’Onofrio), whom she left at the altar but still loves. Each of the girls finds out a lot about themselves along the way.
All of the performances are top-notch and the movie only loses points for being a tad melodramatic at times. Seeing Julia Roberts play a role that matches or exceeds anything she’s been given to perform lately is a nice bonus, especially since most people haven’t been given a chance to see this little gem of a film. Annabeth Gish is another surprise and it’s unfortunate that she hasn’t been able to make a name for herself like Lili Taylor has with roles in movies like Say Anything, Ransom and I Shot Andy Warhol.
If you’re a Julia Roberts fan, take a shot at this movie and enjoy yourself. And even if you’re not, take a little walk down memory lane with Mystic Pizza‘s 1980’s atmospheric charm.
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
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