Customer Reviews

Married to the Mob

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

No film has dared to lampoon the mob as accurately or as hilariously as Jonathan Demme's 1988 masterpiece "Married To The Mob". With a great script, a superb cast and an excellent soundtrack courtesy of Talking Head David Byrne, this film is enjoyable from start to finish.

Angela DeMarco (Michelle Pfeiffer) seems like a typical Long Island housewife and mother. But there's a catch: her husband "Cucumber" Frank DeMarco (Alec Baldwin) is a ruthless mobster working for reputed crime boss Tony "The Tiger" Russo (Dean Stockwell in an Oscar nominated performance). Everything the DeMarcos own has been obtained by murder, laundering and stealing. And Angela wants out. So when Frank is iced by Tony for dating his mistress, Angela sees it as an oppurtunity to escape from the mob and start her own life. The problem, Tony and his gang follow her every move. Also on her tail is FBI agent Mike Downey (Matthew Modine), an undercover agent assigned to arrest her but insteads falls for her. To add to this confusion, Tony's manic wife Connie (a scene stealing Mercedes Ruehl) thinks Angela is having an affair with Tony and is bent on destroying both of them. And when Angela is arrested by the FBI and faces jailtime, she has a choice: go behind the bars or take Tony down.

This is an absolutely brilliant comedy. Michelle Pfeiffer turns in one of her all time best performances in this, capturing Angela to a t. In addition to the lead characters, there's also fine supporting work by actors like Joan Cusack, Oliver Platt, Colin Quinn, Nancy Travis and Chris Isaak. This is definitely a must have movie that I'd recommend to most people.

An endlessly-delightful romantic comedy with a twist, MARRIED TO THE MOB features Michelle Pfeiffer in one of her finest performances of the period. Angela DiMarco (Pfeiffer) is tired of being a Mafia hit-man's wife. Her husband Frank "The Cucumber" (Alec Baldwin) has furnished a houseful of laundered furniture, appliances and gifts, and their son (Anthony J. Nici) is growing up with a warped set of morals to uphold. When Frank is iced by Mafia boss Tony "The Tiger" (Dean Stockwell) who then begins to take a more than friendly interest in Angela, she decides to pack in her gangster past and moves to New York to start afresh. But her past doesn't seem to want to disappear as Tony pursues her, whilst she is also courted by undercover cop Mike (Matthew Modine).

This is such a fun movie. As I mentioned before, this is probably Pfeiffer's most effective comedy performance of the period, with another cracker performance from Mercedes Ruehl as Tony's crazed wife Connie. Also featuring Joan Cusack, Nancy Travis, Oliver Platt and Charles Napier.

Angela DeMarco (Michelle Pfeiffer) whose husband Frank (Alec Baldwin), a mob hitman who has just been "iced" himself, desparately wants to make a new life for herself and her 7 year old son. That would mean moving out of her posh home furnished with stolen merchandise and giving up her friendships with the wives of the mob leaders. She can hardly wait. The problem is that the mob boss, Tony Russo (Dean Stockwell), won't let Angela alone. Tony is a ladies' man and happens to have a crush on Angela.

"Married to the Mob" is one funny flick. Michelle Pfeiffer is absolutely perfect in the role of the hitman's widow. Besides being an incredibly gorgeous and street wise woman, she is altogether convincing and sympathetic as the Mafia wife. Dean Stockwell lends to his role as the fearless Mafia boss just the right touch of dignity and bravado mixed with a droll, deadpan personality that is just right for the part. Mercedes Ruehl is side-splittingly hilarious as mob boss Stockwell's insanely jealous wife, Connie, who is the only person that her husband truly fears. Ruehl steals every scene that she is in. I personally feel that Matthew Modine was miscast in the role of the F.B.I. man and Pfeiffer's protector and love interest, but Modine did a satisfactory job in the role.

The movie contains quite a bit of violence, as necessitated by the movie's theme, but the body count acts as a perfect counterpart to this often zany and, yes, loveable film.

I must admit, I've never been a big 'mafia movie' fan. But this film made the mafia funny, which made it more entertaining for me. If you're the type of person who like laughing and being entertained by movies, then I highly suggest this self-proclaimed 'Godfather on laughing gas' popcorn flick. Michelle Pfieffer (still looking beautiful even though she's a skanky mob wife) plays Angela DeMarco, a woman tired of dealing with the mob. She finds the perfect way out when her husband Frank 'The Cucumber' (Alec Baldwin) is 'iced'. But it seems she never can get away, being tailed by a slimy mob boss, his manical wife (Mercedes Rhuel, hilariously demented) and two government agents (Matthew Modine and Oliver Platt). Basically, it all boils down to a love story between Angela and the agent Mike (Modine) pretending to be a plumber. It's predictable, but gosh darn it, when the two leads are this cute together, you got to love it. The film drags in some places and has an unfortunate dated look but it's upbeat and fun. It makes the most of the 80's as far as music goes. If it's fun you want, check it out but if you're looking for a serious mob film you better 'fuh-get about it'.

"Married to the Mob" is a very funny movie about an Italian Mob Wife who wants out. It is one of my ultimate favorite movies of all time because it is so funny, so well acted, and pure fun to watch. Michelle Pfieffer stars as Angela Demarco, the wife of Frankie "Cucumber" Demarco(played by Alec Baldwin) and mother to 7 year old Joey.
Frustrated by the lifestyle, she just wants to start over fresh and have a second chance for a good life. She asks for a divorce, which is ignored. Then Frankie and his mistress get iced by the big boss, Tony "The Tiger" Russo, played by Dean Stockwell, who roars as this cool mob boss. Angela is beside herself, and ready to move out and on with her life. She moves out of the neighborhood and into a tenament in a seedy looking neighborhood. She plans to get a job and raise her son on her own.
She is then being unknowingly surveillanced by the FBI, and Agent Mike Dowling(Matthew Modine) becomes interested in her.
Young Pfeiffer and Modine seem to have a little chemistry going in the movie. They are very cute together.
Once Frank is dead, Tony tries to seduce Angela. His wife, Connie, played by a hilarious Mercedes Ruehl who is just wonderful in this role, tries to stop it. Tony tries and fails several times.
Mike falls hard for Angela, but eventually she finds out that the FBI is behind it all. They want to use her to get Tony.
Chaos ensues with comedy following. All the actors in this movie work so well together, too. I liked every performance in the movie. Pfeiffer being the best. She plays the character with zest and the accent is perfect!
It is a movie I intend to purchase soon as I just don't tire of it's upbeat, funny, and romantic story.
Highly recommended!!!

Michelle Pfeiffer is good as the wife of a mobster who sees her chance to start a new life when her husband gets killed, but his boss (and murderer), Tony "The Tiger" Russo has the hots for her. At the same time, FBI thinks she was involved in the murder of her husband. Mercedes Ruehl is hilarious as Tony's wife. Joan Cusack has a small part as a mobster's wife, and Roma Maffia appears in one of the last scenes, as Angela's customer.

The movie, and Michelle Pfeiffer, is quite charming but the clothes, hair styles and earrings are hilarious. I can't recall having seen any movie that feels more 80's than this one. It's not great, but charming and funny. It's hard to choose between three and four stars.

MARRIED TO THER MOB is not only Jonathan Demme's best film but perhaps the single funniest comedy to emerge from Hollywood in the Eighties. Its depiction of the New York area mob enormously influenced David Chase's THE SOPRANOS on HBO, and hasn't received the recognition for this it deserves. The genius of the film is that all the film's characters (with the exceptions of Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine and Sister Carol) are all mosters of taste as well as morality, and yet none of them seem to realize this: they think everyone else likes the same furniture, and beahves in the same way, as they do. This has the effect of making their awful choices in home decor seem sublime ("I see a great house!" Alec Baldwin complains, when he looks around at the illgotten and hideous goods his mob work has won him), and their moral choices hilarious. Dean Stockwell, as the randy head of the mob family after Pfeiffer's heroine, and Mercedes Ruehl, as his dumb but jealously devoted wife, almost steal the show (there's a great moment--just two seconds, really--when Ruehl decides to surprise her husband while standing at Kennedy Airport under an advertsiing sign that says, "Miami is for Lovers": her goofy look of inspiration is priceless). But the film in the end belongs to Michelle Pfeiffer, as the hapless heroine, the widowed wife of a mob enforcer. This was the film that really made Pfeiffer a star. Years before she began to perfect the irritating mannerisms that marred her work in the Nineties, she manages to make her character's sufferings and her innate goodness seem immensely touching and also, almost bewilderingly, deeply funny. She has a great date at a salsa club with Matthew Modine's character that remains one of the greatest first dates in film history: watch especially for their little dance outside the Criminal Justice Building in the outtakes during the closing credits.

Michelle Pfeiffer not only beautiful, she is also perfect as a Long Island mobsters wife. She hates being around the other nosy wives who probably once came from Brooklyn. They have high hair, they're overly made up and speak like The Nanny. Alec Baldwin who plays her unfaithful husband is murdered over a side bimbo by mob boss Dean Stockwell. This would be Pfeiffers way out of the mob life she hates however Stockwell falls for her. Note a specificly hilarious performance by Mercedes Ruhel as the Dons wife. The laughs are nonstop as Pfeiffer moves to the slums of Manhattans Lower East Side just to get away. It hardly works and most of Manhattans shortcomings are made fun of. Great Cast and well directed. Unlike some movies that poke fun at the mob, this is the only masterpiece! Viva Long Island!

It's a little all over the place at times, but overall I really enjoyed this film; especially the work by Michelle Pfeiffer and Mercedes Ruehl. The bottom line is, without them the film would have lacked the spark it needed to validate its manic nature. The male performances in the film just don't stack up (Dean Stockwell is commendable in parts, but certainly not Oscar worthy...and Matthew Modine is a serious bore) but the leading ladies really bring the house down. Pfeiffer understood how to balance her characters emotions, giving her a very real and endearing quality while Ruehl added the needed layers to a woman at the end of her rope, going to the extreme with her comedic timing (she was a giant ball of hilarious) while never neglecting the more human and tender side to her character (you could see the pain that was masked by the crazy). The film as a whole just doesn't really have a whole lot going for it. The script just isn't grounded enough, but the actors work with the material in a way that makes it all forgivable. It's fun, even if it isn't what it could have been. I've never been a fan of Demme's work (one hit wonder despite the ridiculous amount of acclaim) and this suffers under his directorial hand; but I can't say it was a complete waste. Watch it for brilliant comedic turns by the two aforementioned actresses and take it for what it is.

Jonathan Demme film that I had never seen before, even though it was released back in 1988. Might have been funnier at the time, but the cliches don't really hold up well through today, especially after having shows such as the Sopranos give us an idea of what a mob wife's life might really be like.