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It Could Happen to You

It Could Happen to You

List Price: $14.94
Your Price: $13.45
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Difference Between Winners & Losers Is Not Money At All
Review: There are romantic comedies that you remember even years later for their wit, grace, and matchless chemistry of the leads. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT comes to mind. Then there are those that are of a lesser order that you may remember vaguely a plot but not much else. IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU is of this latter type. This is not to say that director Andrew Bergman did not manage to convey several heart-warming complexities that inevitably result when unexpected riches collide with everyday life.

Nicholas Cage plays police officer Charley Lang, who does not have enough money for a tip for waitress Yvonne (Bridget Fonda), but he does, however, have a Lotto ticket that he promises to split with her should he win. Naturally, he does win, and it is his winning of four million dollars that changes the tone from that of light comedy to the more bitter world of sleaze and greed. Charley's wife, Muriel (Rosie Perez) epitomizes the grasping, totally self-absorbed woman whose true feelings for Charley are dwarfed by her need to have it all. There are some unnerving scenes of greed versus honesty played out in court that seem to validate the widespread belief that whenever huge sums of money are at stake, the participants had better get the details in writing. There are two areas of the film that do not ring true. The first is the unlikely pairing of the heartless Muriel with the heartfelt Charley. Muriel comes off as a female Murdstone from Dickens' DAVID COPPERFIELD. Her antagonism towards Charley is unfathomable. Neither is her lack of acumen at hooking up with a man, following her divorce, who is even more of a golddigger than she is. The second is the saccharine ending that purports to show that the collective hearts of the Big Apple are big enough to force an ending that is sappy enough to let the audience sigh at a most unlikely resolution. IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU proves that though love may enable vast chasms to be crossed, human beings are more likely to retain that love if they remember why they fell in love in the first place.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Nice Family Film
Review: This is a nice love story, a little dumbed down, but with a great message, the money may be the root of all evil, and what is important is the human heart. This is a message that is badly needed in a very materialistic world. Nicholas Cage is one of our finest commercial actors. He proves is versatility in this picture. What ever happened to Bridget Fonda??

JM

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Modern-Day Capra
Review: This is a touching tale, a tale of two good people that you feel for. I would have given it five stars, but it is a bit hard to believe that they can be so good. If you're willing to accept that in NYC there is a cop who is not only honest, but also truly believes in doing what's right then you'll really enjoy this movie.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Feelings . . .
Review: This is an aggressively saccharine piece of work, and I hesitate to recommend it. Nevertheless, if you enjoyed 'You've Got Mail,' or 'Sleepless in Seattle,' you're bound to eat this up. It put me in a foul mood; I felt manipulated and insulted by its predictability, improbability, and white-washed view of city life.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very Cool Movie!
Review: This movie is about a very nice cop who is in a dinner one day and dosen't have enough money for a tip. He promises the young girl: If he wins the lottery he'll split it with her, or tommorow he'll give a double tip. They win and he keeps his promise and splits it with her. The cop's wife flips out. They divorce, and the waitress and him get together. Of course that's not the whole movie, but that's basically what happens. I think you'll like this movie. It is very touching. I hope this was helpfull. Bye!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: you'll love it
Review: This movie lets the viewer see different aspects of 2 lives. The greedy people and the giving and caring people. Nicholas C. and waitress give back to the people, which makes you feel good inside. Made me want to give more. Lets viewers see how good it can really feel when a person gives. I guess the saying is right, it is better to give than to receive.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Makes you want to fall in love with love
Review: This movie made you believe that even though things might be going bad in your life. You should always have faith that things could go your way. This is definitely a stand up and cheer movie. You cheer for Nicholas Cage and Bridget Fonda. And laugh when Rosie Perez gets her just deserts.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: you reap what you sow
Review: This movie, based on a true story, is for anyone desperately hoping that good things do happen to good people. Yvonne is a struggling waitress who has filed for bankruptcy, as her estranged husband (she doesn't have enough money to divorce him) ran up $12,000 on her credit cards. She came to New York 5 years ago to be an actress, and it just never happened. Meantime, Charlie is a good-hearted cop, very blue collar, living in Queens and liking it. He is married to Muriel, his high-school sweetheart, and she doesn't like it -- she wants more more more!! And WHEN is Charlie going to give it to her, that's what she wants to know!

One day, Charlie is at Yvonne's coffeeshop and doesn't have enough money to pay the bill and leave a tip. He offers to come back the next day and give her half his lottery winnings (he just purchased a ticket) or double a tip. Turns out he wins ... and that is where the real story begins.

Money is not the root of all evil, it's the LOVE of all money that is. How much this money meant to Charlie, Yvonne, Muriel and the various people who start coming out of the woodwork all becomes apparent. Furthermore, money is not an end but the means to an end -- how does each individual choose to use their part of the pie? It's interesting .....

This is billed as a romance but that is really the secondary plotline that develops very slowly. It could happen to you -- and the situations presented make you examine what you would do if you won $4 million.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Sweet Romantic Story
Review: This story was inspired by an actual event and makes you believe that there are still nice people in the world. One day a policeman (Charlie Lang, played by Nicholas Cage) must leave a restaurant in a hurry, and rather than leave without a tip he promises half the winnings of a lottery ticket to his waitress (Yvonne Biasi, played by Bridget Fonda), if the ticket should win. The ticket wins, big time, and the conflict and stress begin.

To contrast with the sweetness, though with a bit of cynical edge, of Charlie and Yvonne, is Charlie's wife Muriel, obnoxiously and effectively played by Rosie Perez. Muriel is out for Muriel, and wants to get what she sees as hers, regardless of whatever promise Charlie may have made to Yvonne.

We see Charlie conflicted as to what to do at first. After all, Charlie certainly did not expect to win several million dollars on that lottery ticket. However, Charlie wants to do the right thing, and he does. As Charlie follows his heart, and what he believes is right, Charlie comes to realize that Yvonne has morals and a style more like his own, and Muriel is greedy and conniving and just not a very nice person. While I was initially conflicted by Charlie's marriage to Muriel, because I believe strongly in marriage, there came a point where I just couldn't stand Muriel any more, and no belief in marriage would have made me stay with her.

This story is a bit of a caricature and more than a bit trite, but somehow I wanted this variation on the Cinderella theme to work out and I had to follow it to the end. I wanted the movie to work out because Yvonne was just a wonderfully nice person and she deserved a better life, and I decided that no matter what Muriel and Charlie were not going to work out. I admit that I did come to the point where I wanted Charlie and Yvonne to get together, but I was not sure of exactly how to work that out without complications.

In a way this movie is a bit of a guilty pleasure, because it does have a fair amount of predictability, though not all the details are predictable. However, I like to watch happy ending movies sometimes, and this one has a wonderfully happy ending. This movie works because of the great chemistry between Bridget Fonda and Nicholas Cage. The combination of their character's believability, the sweet story, and the happy ending, just make this a fun movie to watch. Just keep your analysis of the story to a minimum; it is only a movie, after all.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Sweet Romantic Story
Review: This story was inspired by an actual event and makes you believe that there are still nice people in the world. One day a policeman (Charlie Lang, played by Nicholas Cage) must leave a restaurant in a hurry, and rather than leave without a tip he promises half the winnings of a lottery ticket to his waitress (Yvonne Biasi, played by Bridget Fonda), if the ticket should win. The ticket wins, big time, and the conflict and stress begin.

To contrast with the sweetness, though with a bit of cynical edge, of Charlie and Yvonne, is Charlie's wife Muriel, obnoxiously and effectively played by Rosie Perez. Muriel is out for Muriel, and wants to get what she sees as hers, regardless of whatever promise Charlie may have made to Yvonne.

We see Charlie conflicted as to what to do at first. After all, Charlie certainly did not expect to win several million dollars on that lottery ticket. However, Charlie wants to do the right thing, and he does. As Charlie follows his heart, and what he believes is right, Charlie comes to realize that Yvonne has morals and a style more like his own, and Muriel is greedy and conniving and just not a very nice person. While I was initially conflicted by Charlie's marriage to Muriel, because I believe strongly in marriage, there came a point where I just couldn't stand Muriel any more, and no belief in marriage would have made me stay with her.

This story is a bit of a caricature and more than a bit trite, but somehow I wanted this variation on the Cinderella theme to work out and I had to follow it to the end. I wanted the movie to work out because Yvonne was just a wonderfully nice person and she deserved a better life, and I decided that no matter what Muriel and Charlie were not going to work out. I admit that I did come to the point where I wanted Charlie and Yvonne to get together, but I was not sure of exactly how to work that out without complications.

In a way this movie is a bit of a guilty pleasure, because it does have a fair amount of predictability, though not all the details are predictable. However, I like to watch happy ending movies sometimes, and this one has a wonderfully happy ending. This movie works because of the great chemistry between Bridget Fonda and Nicholas Cage. The combination of their character's believability, the sweet story, and the happy ending, just make this a fun movie to watch. Just keep your analysis of the story to a minimum; it is only a movie, after all.


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