Product Details

• Actors: Michelle Pfeiffer, Alec Baldwin, Paul Lazar, Captain Haggerty, Marlene Willoughby
• Directors: Jonathan Demme
• Writers: Barry Strugatz, Mark R. Burns
• Producers: Bill Todman Jr., Edward Saxon, Joel Simon, Kenneth Utt, Michael A. Cherubino
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Orion
• VHS Release Date: December 7, 1992
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301216229
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,401 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Jonathan Demme's last idiosyncratic film before he went all mainstream and "serious" with The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia is a wacky, energetic comedy that looks at mob life with affection, and established Michelle Pfeiffer as both a stunning leading lady and a consummate character actress. When Angela DeMarco (Pfeiffer), fed up with a house filled with furniture and appliances that "fell off a truck," asks her husband, hit man Frank "the Cucumber" (Alec Baldwin), for a divorce, he laughs at her and tells her she'll never escape the mob's clutches. Opportunity arises, though, in the form of Frank's untimely demise, after he's efficiently dispatched by mob head Tony "the Tiger" (Dean Stockwell, in an Oscar-nominated performance) for having an affair with Tony's mistress. Seizing her opportunity, Angela flees Long Island for the city, taking her son and donating all her possessions to Goodwill. Angela thinks she's finally free, but in reality not only does a lovesick Tony have his eye on her, but she's also being spied on by a government agent (Matthew Modine) who thinks she can lead him to the mob boss. Wild and all over the place, Married to the Mob is a genial mess, grounded by Pfeiffer's phenomenal performance, which perfectly mixes comedy and pathos. Her tentative first steps into mob-free life are both comic and touching to watch, whether she's shyly flirting with Modine or fending off the lecherous advances of Stockwell. Mercedes Ruehl, as Tony's big-haired, slightly crazy, put-upon wife, almost steals the show, especially in the film's shoot-'em-up finale, set in Miami and featuring the wonderful Trey Wilson as Modine's FBI boss. The movie is decidedly slack in places, and suffered some damage in the editing room (take a look at the copious outtakes in the film's end credits), but with its high spirits and delightful details, Married to the Mob will definitely make you an offer you can't refuse. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Bitingly Funny Satire Of The Mafia, July 6, 2005

By 

Anthony Nasti "Tony" (Staten Island, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Married to the Mob (DVD)

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pfeiffer's greatest comedic role of the period, November 16, 2005

By 

Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Married to the Mob (DVD)

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just another Mafia comedy, September 14, 2003

By 

IRA Ross (LYNDHURST, NJ United States 07071) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Married to the Mob [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.