Mystic Pizza is the story of 3 ladies, Daisy (Julia Roberts), Kat (Annabeth Gish) and Jojo (Lili Taylor) that live in the small town of Mystic and work at a pizza parlor cleverly named, Mystic Pizza. They are all best friends, but are currently on different paths in life. Daisy is the free-spirited wild child that falls for Charles (Adam Storke), the rich and preppy law student that can’t seem to make his parents happy. Kat, on the other hand, is the smart studious one that is working on going to Yale to study astronomy, but somehow falls in love with her employer, named Tim (William Moses), who is both married and has a daughter. Lastly, there is Jojo, who is down to earth with low expectations and commitment issues, but is in a steady relationship with Bill (Vincent D’ Onofrio), a hardworking fisherman. The movie chronicles their relationships and hardships in life, but always seems to revolve around Mystic Pizza.

This movie did have its fair share of comedic moments, like Daisy mistaking Charles for being unfaithful and dumping barrels of fish in his Porsche, as well as some dramatic moments, like Jojo passing out at her own wedding. I also liked how nostalgic this movie made me feel because it was originally released in 1988. Everything 80’s is included in this movie from the bad hairstyles to the funny fashion to even the awkward mentions of condom use. The soundtrack was well done and fitted the movie situations perfectly.

However, I did have several gripes about this movie. Usually, if someone pays extra for the blu-ray edition of a movie, they are usually expecting better picture quality or some extras to justify the cost. Both of these areas were lacking for this blu-ray. For instance, the picture quality still looked very grainy and did not appear to have been remastered. Also, the blu-ray did not include any special features nor did it even have an opening menu. If there isn’t anything setting it apart from the VHS or DVD versions of the movie, why did they even bother releasing it on blu-ray? In addition, this movie never really explained the significance of Mystic Pizza. They occasionally explained it as some magical pizza, but not why it meant so much to everyone. Lastly, this was not exactly Julia Roberts’ finest performance. She did a better and more convincing job in Pretty Woman and Erin Brokovich. For these reasons, I am giving this movie a “C.”