Only The Lonely (film) - Plot

Plot

Danny Muldoon (John Candy), a 38-year-old Chicago policeman, still lives with his overbearing Irish mother, Rose Muldoon (Maureen O'Hara). A lonely bachelor, Danny falls in love with Theresa Luna (Ally Sheedy), an introverted, lonely girl who works in her father's funeral home as a cosmetician. On their first date, he takes her to Comiskey Park (shortly before it was torn down) and has a picnic on the field. Their courtship eventually becomes very difficult because Rose begins to feel threatened that Theresa is trying to steal her son away; the fact that Theresa is not Irish (she is Sicilian and Polish) only exacerbates the situation.

Danny's brother Patrick (Kevin Dunn) tries to convince Danny to remain unmarried so that Danny and Rose can move down to Florida, where Danny can take care of her; Salvatore "Sal" Buonarte (James Belushi), one of Danny's married friends and fellow police officers, tries to tell Danny that he can do better and not to settle down just yet, as he did. Because of this, Danny begins to feel guilty about his relationship with Theresa, especially towards his mother. This leads to his interrupting dates with Theresa to check on his mother.

When Theresa is finally introduced to Rose at a fancy dinner, Rose immediately begins to put her down. Theresa stands up to Rose, and complains to Danny as to why he didn't stand up for her. After Theresa leaves, Danny scolds his mother for being so cruel to Theresa, saying that her way of "telling it like it is" is really her attempts to hurt people. He then reminds her of how she had lost a $450,000 account for his late father's company after calling his bosses racial slurs. Danny then tells Rose that he will propose to Theresa, whether she approves or not.

That night, Danny apologizes to Theresa and proposes to her from the bucket of a Chicago fire truck. She says yes and the two are set to be married. However, even though Rose finally does approve of Theresa, on the night before the wedding, Danny calls to check on his mother in front of Theresa. Angered at the fact that they might never be alone, Theresa walks off. At the wedding, both Danny and Theresa fail to show up, thus, the two don't marry. A few weeks later, Danny's friends question what happened to make them not get married, but Danny avoids an answer. Then, when a friend of the family, Doyle (Milo O'Shea) passes away, alone with no wife or children, Danny realizes that he doesn't want to end up that way, and realizes that he can't let Theresa go.

Finally, the day Danny and Rose are scheduled to move to Florida, Danny tells Rose that he can't let Theresa go and by leaving her behind, he'd be leaving behind the best thing that ever happened to him. Reluctant at first, Rose finally agrees to Danny's plan and goes to Florida without him, instructing her son to get married, have a family and be happy. Danny then goes to Luna's Funeral Home to look for Theresa. However, her father tells him that she left for New York City by train. Danny contacts the railroad station manager, who agrees to stop the train at a suburban station outside the city. There, Danny apologizes to Theresa and proclaims his love for her. He tells her that he will move to New York with her and join the New York City Police Department. Having no more guilt about his mother, the two re-board the train for New York to live the rest of their lives together.

Throughout the film, the Muldoons' Greek neighbor, Nick Acropolis (Anthony Quinn), who encourages Danny to pursue Theresa, attempts to woo Rose. Rose is salty towards him in the beginning, but as she gradually softens her stance regarding Danny's relationship with Theresa, she ultimately warms up to Nick.