An unconventional single mother relocates with her two daughters to a small Massachusetts town in 1963, where a number of events and relationships both challenge and strengthen their familial bonds.
Loretta Castorini, a bookkeeper from Brooklyn, New York, finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she has agreed to marry.
A worker at a plutonium processing plant is purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing worker safety violations at the plant.
Rusty Dennis is the mother of Rocky, a seriously deformed, but extremely intelligent and emotionally warm teenager. Rusty is a no-nonsense mother whose wild lifestyle is often at odds with her tenderness and protectiveness towards Rocky. She is determined that Rocky be given the same chances and happiness that everyone else takes for granted.Written by
Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>
Not only was the real Rocky Dennis not buried (his body was donated to science), the dates of birth and death shown on the gravestone in the movie are incorrect. See more »
Goofs
When recounting the beginning of the Trojan War to his class, Rocky mentions the Trojan horse. The teacher doesn't correct him, even though the Greek story states that the Trojan horse ended the war many years after it begin. See more »
Quotes
[after an unpleasant visit with the grandparents, Rusty is about to take a lot of drugs]
Gar:
[gets a beer from fridge]
If you're gonna get wasted on that crap, I'm not gonna hang around here and babysit you.
Rusty Dennis:
[scoffs]
You must be confusing me with someone who gives a shit.
Gar:
I must be.
Rusty Dennis:
[looks at drugs, Gar and shakes her head]
You know, this is not going to work. I'm doing things to please you and I'm just gonna end up hating you.
Gar:
Oh come on, Baby. You and your old man have been going through this shit ...
[...] See more »
Alternate Versions
The Director's Cut print runs around 7 minutes longer and includes a scene where Rocky & Rusty sing around a bonfire, and the funeral of cyclist Red (his motorbike is buried beside him). It also replaces the songs with those of . See more »
This movie has moved me since it first came out in the 1980's. The
performances- particularly by Cher and Eric Stoltz as Rusty and Rocky
Dennis- are fantastic, the camera work (by the great Lazlo Kovacs) fluid
and superb, the make up won an academy award, the music perfect, and the
story, well, it's almost too good to be true. It's real life we're
watching here, and knowing that it's also a true story makes it all the
more touching and wonderful. I watched it with my boyfriend, then my
husband, and now with my children. It's a simple tale of triumph of the
spirit, but it goes deep and really stays with you if you let it. If you
haven't seen this movie yet, go out and rent it tonight, you won't be
disappointed.......