Mystic Pizza

Julia Roberts did look hot here. With her long hair, big butt, full lips, she looked more like 80s Eric Roberts than ever.

She's been bony and cold ever since.

I occasionally pass by the pizzeria and think of the movie, and of pizza. I’m thinking of pizza right now. Damn you, OP!

If you watch this entire movie, you will eat pizza within a week.

There is only one reason why DL would remember this movie.

Vincent D'Onofrio was sooooo cute in this movie!

I remember Parade Magazine did a profile on this movie the week it came out. The writer wrote that "you will be hearing the names of Julia Roberts, Annabeth Gish, and Lili Taylor for years.'

Resist nostalgia

Why name this movie Mythic Pizza? Stupid name. Makes people think it's a restaurant not a movie.

The rich guy Charlie, who Julia Roberts meets playing pool and goes out with had a serious cocaine addiction during filming of this movie.

This movie had the stupidest tagline. No way would a movie today have that tagline.

R9 I thought that guy was the hottest thing in that movie.

I love this movie! I love Mystic, CT. One of the most beautiful places on LI Sound. Now I do want pizza.

I enjoyed seeing Julia and Conchata Farrell work together again in Erin Brockovich years later.

Kind of sad; Annabeth Gish was in the recent season of Sons of Anarchy, but she has a receding hairline like an old man, no doubt from an eating disorder. She was kind of chubby in this movie, but it suited her. She was cute in this movie....

I would have fucked hot dad Billy Moses too.

Lili Taylor was way too good for this shit.

This movie also had a great musical score.

R14, do you just pull this stuff out of your ass? She still had her baby fat. She's 30 years older now and, whoa, she actually looks older. Shocker. She's still hot.

I saw this movie in the theater with my mom.

Funny to see this thread pop up today as I just say tripped to Mystic today for the first time ever. Took pictures of but didn’t eat at Mystic Pizza. Had a bad experience at another restaurant (called R/36) so pizza would’ve been a better bet. Cute town. I’ll have to watch the movie again now.

I saw it a long time ago and liked it. I believe when I saw it, Roberts was already a star.

Julia Roberts is very sexy in this movie. But she has proven since then that it is not part of her genuine personality.

Vinny d'onofrio was very cute in this movie. Roberts looked her greatest.

Love Lili Taylor.

R5 Yes! Fell in love with Vincent D'Onofrio in MP. Lasted all these years.

Lili Taylor already was cementing her rep as the next Sandy Dennis, but with fewer tics.

Here's what the filming locations look like if you're ever in Mystic. I'm driving up to Boston in a few weeks. I do love this movie so I may stop off and take a look around. Looks like a cute place, but the pizza looks like Pizza Hut-ish.

Julia did look better with a little more weight on her. Her acting was a bit hammy. Her eyebrows a bit wonky. Lili is the true star. I love her, she can do no wrong.

[quote]Julia Roberts at her sexiest.

Fuck that shits. That's just saying she still had some baby teeth left in her cunt among the fangs.

Aloe Vera/r29!

Julia Roberts as an East Coast girl of Portuguese descent was laughable and especially with that corn pone accent she had going on and has never quite gotten rid of.

Aside from some of the clothes, this movie probably could have come out in the 90s. It doesn't seem as dated as other movies from that time.

I totally understood why Lili Taylor was all about boning Vincent D'Onofrio .... why are there no shirtless pics of him from this movie ?? He was adorable.

It's true, Bill ..........I'm sorry.

hey, at least it's not St Elmo's Fire!

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with Robin Leach playing on the TV is one of the most 80s moments of the movie.

Annabeth did look terrible in Sons of Anarchy. She does look like she has a eating disorder. She looks like a thin person who is thin because they do not eat.

Annabeth Gish was on the American version of the Bridge, playing a too-stupid-to-be-a-trophy wife. She looked like a woman who'd chosen her ass over her face. A few pounds would improve her face a lot.

Annabeth Gish is married to John Goodman.

Now I'm hungry for pizza .....

A large 🍕 slice with pepperoni, mushrooms, & extra cheese, please.

Annabeth Gish is married to Wade Allen.

John Goodman is married to Annabeth Hartzog.

One of my mom's favorite movies. She could relate.

Julia's eyebrows were too distracting

I love Mystic Pizza! My favourite film of 1988 :)

R14 Annabeth Gish was super cute in this movie. She was my favourite

I thought John Goodman was gay?

The movie could never be made today. Gish was only 16 when the movie was made. Can you imagine the outcry today over a 16 year old actress getting it on with an older man in a movie?

I thought Annabeth Gish was the one who was going to be the star. Go figure.

I was only 5 when it came out and didn't watch it until just a couple of years ago. I thought it was boring and seeing the older married guy moving in on his kid's babysitter was gross. I've driven through Mystic several times in the last few years and although it hasn't changed too much since the film it's still sad to see that it's no longer the same quaint, safe, innocent little seaside town it was in 1988 (if it ever was). I didn't realize young Matt Damon made an appearance. This thread is so universally positive about the film that I'm considering giving it a second try. I usually love 80's movies.

Once a Summer, my parents would bring us all to visit the nearby Mystic Seaport.

Roberts is good in it, as is Lili Taylor. I remember a scene with a telescope owned by the married guy Annabeth's character babysits for that breaks her heart.

Annabeth Gish was 16?? She looks 21...

I liked Julia Roberts’ character’s mother’s line to Julia, something like, “When I was young, you don’t think I had men come round, sniffing after me?”

I still love Gish in the movie Shag... haha and Desert bloom!

As teens back then, one of the ways we could earn bragging points with our peers was by scoring with an older man/woman. But that plot device will never be used in a contemporary mainstream movie nowadays, since the idea of adults having sex with minors at any age is so taboo (it was always illegal, but not always taboo).

I remember back in the 70s, one of my junior high classmates was being sexually molested by her father and her brother. Everyone knew about it. All the adults deplored it...but no one did a single thing about it.

Matt Damon is the highlight of this picture.

r56 = Matt Damon

r48 I think Annabeth Gish did okay overall. She has worked consistently.

I agree with r14 Annabeth didn't age well. I saw her in person a few years ago and lately she has been looking very hard in the face. She suited some baby fat.

I also agree that Julia was really likable here. I loved her big curly hair. She had a warmth that is not as present anymore.

I liked Julia in this too. But nothing trumps her diabetic episode in Steel Magnolias.

Oh yeah, r59? I'd like to see you try!

It's weird that she's from Georgia and even her Southern accent was bad and sounded fake in Steel Magnolias.

We wanted to tell you and daddy when you're togetha butchyore neva togetha.

Sort of off topic but does anyone know what really happened in the Julia Roberts/ Lyle Lovett break up?

I thought Julia looked her absolute best in Pretty Woman.

And I like Annabeth Gish thin.

Annabeth is resuming her Agent Reyes role for the upcoming season of X-Files.

I had such a crush on Annabeth Gish... Man. And I liked Lili Taylor like she was my neighbour or my childhood friend. Still do.

Has anyone ever eaten at Mystic Pizza? Is the pizza as good as they say it is? I'd like to order some but it doesn't look like there is a single place to find it on the west coast.

Love this movie! Vincent was the cutest guy and true Julias eye brows were crazy.

R67, it's fine. Perfectly good food, nothing really special though. There are lots of places with more memorable pizza in the area. I grew up a couple towns over.

In the original Mystic Pizza in Mystic (Mystic Pizza II is in North Stonington) the walls are still covered in the movie memorabilia. They play the film in the dining room constantly on a loop. It's kind of sad--it's not like the film is such a classic or they have so many people coming in because of the it anymore. I'd guess the vast majority of people who go there now either don't know the film or don't give a shit about the connection beyond "oh that's nice."

The pizzeria was actually in Worcester, CT.

This movie makes me sentimental.

Julia's best movie.

Julia lost a lot of her charisma and turned into a "star" after this

Cast Reunion

You can see Annabeth Gish and Lily Taylor are instantly annoyed when Julia says she's the most innately happy.

R55 My next door neighbor growing up molested his daughter and granddaughter, and nobody cared. People gossiped, but nobody did anything.

Annabeth Gish’s storyline was vaguely rapey and #metoo. The guy would be arrested today. The movie hasn’t aged well.

I still watch this movie regularly

R77 The storyline was gross, but the dad was hot as fuck.

There was something special about those early Julia years - the smile, the big curly hair, full lips and hearty laughter. She oozed charisma in Satisfaction, MP, Steel Magnolias, Pretty Woman, Flatliners, and Sleeping with the Enemy. Like a poster said above, she became thin and cold afterwards.

It’s so great that most of the leads of this movie have had such long fulfilling careers. I fell in love with Lili Taylor, Annabeth Gish, Vincent D'Onofrio and Julia Roberts during this movie. Some of my favorite actors. Nostalgia gives me life!

There is no such place as Worcester, CT, R70

Adam Storke was adorable.

Great independent movie

R69 they had a televised reunion a few years back to commemorate the 25th anniversary (see R74), so i think there's still interest in the film.

Re Mystic Pizza: My local Market Basket here in Mass. sells frozen versions, but I gather it tastes better fresh out of the oven.

Was Mystic Pizza made before or after Satisfaction? Julia was even thicker in Satisfaction.

Good movie for this time of year with Annabeth Gish's line, "Next Thursday's Thanksgiving."

Too many white people in the poster

I want a trans version.

I remember not seeking it out because it looked like a movie for yuppies who romanticize about running their own pizza shop. That premise seemed about as likely as American Psycho.

The pizza shop workers were not yuppies. It was not about yuppies.

Hard to believe that Annabeth Gish was only 16 when the movie was made

I rented it probably 25 years ago. I liked it OK.

I was disappointed in the real Mystic, CT. I thought it would be much more blue-collar.

[quote]Roberts then started seeing one of the grips while filming.

The key grip, surely.

R95, do you know are are you guessing?

Mystic is actually a village that's part of two CT towns, Stonington and Groton. There's definitely blue collar areas of the towns, but I wouldn't consider Mystic to be one of them. Mystic is more a tourism location, especially for New Englanders coming to visit the Mystic Seaport and Mystic Aquarium. Plus, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun are just minutes away, so you get some spillover from that.

The biggest employers in the area are the Naval Sub base, General Dynamics, and Pfizer, but all three have reductions in employment based on defense contracts or Pfizer moving some operations out of CT, so I think it's getting to be a little more depressed lately, but it's been years since I've been there. I lived in the area for a bit but it was pre-casinos, and almost all pre-Mystic Pizza (the movie), so I'm sure it's changed significantly over the years.

R88 I'm seeing that a lot on YouTube (not just about Mystic Pizza) and it's very annoying! For example, you try to watch an Oscar acceptance speech from way back when and when you try to read what you think will be fun(ny) comments, there they are with #OscarsSoWhite and the like.

Also, I was watching prom and school assembly videos, and whenever there was a school that was predominantly white or all-white, there they were again saying the school needed diversity or "a little color." These people are so dumb! It doesn't occur to them that there still are towns/regions/states that are 90% white. They seem to think that blacks, whites, Asians, and Latinos are evenly distributed throughout the country and one poster even thought that students of color were forbidden from attending these 'white schools' because there were no or few minorities. I asked another if they also say the school needs 'more diversity' in the videos with all-black students? She never responded.

I think these modern shows/movies that often feature multiracial friends/classmates/family are giving people the wrong expectations. In fact, one girl from Italy (I've also watched foreign exchange videos) was surprised that her new school was predominantly white. She did a reality vs. movies/TV video regarding American high schools.

Interesting commentary, R98

It had Lily Taylor in it, of course it is worth watching.

Lili is wonderful in everything.

[Quote]it looked like a movie for yuppies who romanticize about running their own pizza shop.

I don't think yuppies romanticized about running pizza shops; that's a blogger/hipster thing.

They weren't yuppies. They were working-class of Portuguese descent. The family of Julia Robert's love interest disapproved of the relationship because he was rich and a WASP; she was lower-class and white-adjacent. They made passive-aggressive comments about her ethnicity.

R103 I think that person is saying that the movie was made FOR yuppies (who dreamed about owning pizza shops) to watch

R104 oh, gotcha. Never mind.

A low-budget, independent movie with three unknown lead actresses in their early 20s isn't a movie geared toward yuppies.

Nobody then dreamt of owning a pizza place, FGS. Maybe an upscale restaurant, but not a pizza place.

I watch this movie whenever it's on, for the vision that was Adam Storke. Love the billiards scene!

Yeah, no. To whatever extent this movie was aimed at yuppies, it was of the poverty tourism variety. "Oh, look at those noble hard working white adjacents!" who are of course portrayed by very white people.

“In 1988, Julia Roberts stepped in as a last-minute replacement for Meg Ryan to play Shelby, a young diabetic in "Steel Magnolias." It was a major break for a young actress whose only major screen credit was the female coming-of-age film "Mystic Pizza"--and placed her in the midst of some pretty heavy hitters.

Surrounded by Shirley MacLaine, Sally Field, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton and Daryl Hannah, Roberts was surely the lowest-paid and least-recognized--by a long shot.

Three years later, however, she has left them all in the dust. The 23-year-old Roberts commands more money than any other actress in Hollywood--she will get $7 million for "Renegades," a Western she'll star in next year with husband-to-be Kiefer Sutherland. When "Pretty Woman" became Disney's top-grossing film ever, the nation's theater owners--at their annual convention, ShoWest--selected her 1990 Performer of the Year. And, with only six major movies to her credit, the actress has twice been nominated for an Academy Award and twice won a Golden Globe.”

Julia Roberts' best and most genuine performance.

Wow! Adam Storke is in this film. Just the kind of man I was attracted to, circa 1988.

I can’t see Meg Ryan in that role.

I’ve never actually seen this.

Gawd, it’s the monthly revival of this fucking thread. When is it gonna be enough for you, OP?

R63 His fugly face!

For the longest time, I thought that Jason Bateman had played the Adam Storke part in this movie.

Jason Bateman was 17 or 18 was this movie was made.

The architect hot daddy who was also on Falcon Crest was my fave from this shitfest. I still can't believe people STILL GO to the crappy ass restaurant in Mystic called Mystic Pizza.

Didn't see it in theaters, but it's since become one of my favorite movies.

Adam Storke!

R89, Laverne Cox would want to be Daisy.

I started this thread four years ago and forgot about it, but am riding high on the thread envy of R114

Julia's finest moment

Released thirty years ago this week

"Next Thursday's Thanksgiving.......soon I'll be at Yale"

It's my favorite Annabeth Gish movie!