I do not deny that the punchline of her Soapdish role has aged poorly. However, it’s still apparently her favourite of her own movies, and it’s a damn delight for the most part. I keep using “delight” when it comes to that movie, I grant you, but that’s because of how much I love it. And for better than ninety percent of the film’s run time, Montana Moorehead is the kind of grasping, conniving woman that Moriarty plays so well. Even her speech about how sensitive she really is lasts for maybe twenty seconds before she’s back to manipulating David Seton Barnes with sex, knowing it’s what she’s doing and not caring even a little.
She got started in the business as a fluke, agreeing to humour some friends by entering a bathing beauty contest in a bar. She was cold and uncomfortable and won anyway, and Joe Pesci happened to be there. He took her picture to show to Martin Scorsese, and that’s how she was cast to appear in Raging Bull. But after that initial immediate success—she was nominated for an Oscar for the role, losing to Mary Steenburgen for Melvin and Howard—she spent years really working at her acting, paying her dues and losing her accent.
In 1982, she was in a serious car accident. She needed back surgery. And it’s awful to think how close we likely came to losing a great, underrated talent. She says she’s more interested in acting than being a movie star, but she’s still definitely on the list of people I think should get more notice than she does. She has incredible range, and she’s a person who always makes me perk up a little when I see her in a movie, because if nothing else, I know she’s going to be good. The whole rest of the movie can be a dumpster fire, but it’ll be a dumpster fire with a great Cathy Moriarty performance.
There are two other lesser-known Moriarty roles I particularly want to bring to people’s attention, here, because everyone talks about Raging Bull. But not enough people talk about Matinee. She plays Ruth Corday, long-suffering girlfriend to John Goodman’s William Castle pastiche, Lawrence Woolsey. She’s also his leading lady. She thinks the movies are terrible. The gimmicks are dumb. Woolsey is an egomaniac. And she is right across the board. But she loves and supports him, and that shines through even when she is annoyed and disgusted with the whole thing.
Finally, let us discuss But I’m a Cheerleader. She is Mary Brown, who owns and operates True Directions, a conversion therapy boarding center. She really believes in what she’s doing, believes she can even get to her own son, who is obviously super gay. And she basically plays the role as Joan Crawford. This movie, a delightful snark on the very idea of our stereotypes in general and conversion therapy in particular, has a great cast and a satisfying conclusion. And Cathy Moriarty may not be the best part, but if not, it’s because she’s up against the likes of RuPaul as head counselor Mike. How do you beat that, even if you are Cathy Moriarty?
