a_chinn With the curtain being drawn back to reveal a soft focus NYC skyline by a woman taking down her rooftop laundry line and the film's narrator, Issac "Shaft" Hayes, starting the film off with the words "Once upon a time..." the fairy tale tone is set for this charming love story set in the big city. Nicholas Cage plays a kindly NYC police officer who one day doesn't have enough money to tip a waitress, Bridgette Fonda, so he promises her that he'll split the winnings of his lottery ticket if he wins. Cage does hit the lottery jackpot and he and Fonda become media sensations when he follows through with his promise. Cage follows through with his promise much to the consternation of his greedy, self-centered, materialistic wife, Rosie Perez, and Fonda has to fend off her gold digging, irresponsible separated husband, Stanley Tucci. With their awful partners, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Cage and Fonda become star crossed lovers in a highly predictable, but none-the-less highly enjoyable film in the mold of 1930s/40s romantic comedy. The story is pure Hallmark Channel sap, but director Andrew Bergman and the two leads bring so much charm and likability to the film that it's nearly impossible to resist. For all the terrible films Cage has appeared in, this film served to remind me of what a good actor he can be, particularly because it was so different from his more frequent over-the-top, wild-man roles (i.e. "Wild at Heart," "Leaving Las Vegas," "Face-Off," etc.). Cage has a quiet easy charm in this film, playing a kind, very ordinary of character, which I'd forgotten he was able to play. Fonda is equally good as the kindhearted waitress and as whenever I see one of her film, I miss seeing her in new films and would love to see her come out of retirement. The two make an terrific onscreen couple and it's hard not to smile as you see them walking the streets of NYC, playing baseball with kids over Frank Sinatra standards, or even when they're doing the very 1990s activity of rollerblading through Central Park. However, one thing that jumped out at me, and maybe I'm reading too much into this, but there seemed to be a weird racist undercurrent with the waspy Cage and Fonda being unhappy in their marriages to their more "ethnic" of partners (Latina Perez and Italian Tucci). There's also a scene in the film where cage stops a convince store robber and the robber for no apparent reason is middle eastern. I hope this all was unintentional, but it did have an off-putting effect that was completely unnecessary in moving forward the film's plot. Despite that bit of likely unintentional racism, I really do love this film. The leads are terrific. The photography by Oscar nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (father of Zoey and Emily Deschanel) has the same kind of mythic feel he brought to "The Natural" and "The Right Stuff". The Carter Burwell score is gorgeous, as are the song choices, which include Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, The Supremes, and contemporary artists like Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lyle Lovett, and Wynton Marsalis, which serves as a nice bridge between the film's classic sensibilities and the modern setting. It's a charming and sweet old fashioned romantic comedy that just as easily could have starred Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Overall, "It Could Happen to You" is a the type of romantic comedy you'd seen a hundred times before, but overcomes it's cliches and familiarities to become one of the better if not one of the best examples of this type of fluffy rom com.

SnoopyStyle Yvonne Biasi (Bridget Fonda) is an aspiring actress gone bankrupt. Charlie (Nicolas Cage) is a NY city beat cop and his wife Muriel Lang (Rosie Perez) is desperate to get out of their one bedroom apartment in Queens. He's eating lunch at a diner with his partner Bo Williams (Wendell Pierce). With no money for the tip, he promises to split his lottery ticket with her and come back with a tip if it doesn't win. The jackpot is $64 million. Muriel is angry to split the jackpot with 15 other tickets but then Charlie tells her about Yvonne. Charlie pities Yvonne and gives her a choice between double the tip or half of the ticket. However, the money isn't what brings happily ever after.It's a very sweet premise with nothing too risky. It depends a lot on the actors to make this straight romance work. Bridget is classic and Nick is restrained. They are sweeter than molasses. Rosie is as loud as heck and an annoying villain. It's a simple romantic fable that hits most of the right notes. This could have been made by Frank Capra himself.

Steve Pulaski Sometimes, a film comes subtly by and sweeps you off your feet. That's exactly the case with It Could Happen to You, a sweet, serene comedy that avoids emotional manipulation and gooey sentimentality currently plagued by many romantic comedies. This is a wholesome exercise involving great characters, a charming cast, a funny, kind-hearted script, and a delightful ode to human nature.I'm starting to loosen my grip around Nicolas Cage. Perhaps I have been relying too much on his current films to judge him as a whole. The last three films I've seen by him, this, Leaving Las Vegas, and Vampire's Kiss, were surprisingly well done, and he played a big reason why. Cage plays a New York cop named Charlie Lang, a soft-spoken, everyman with a big heart and a good moral upbringing. His wife is the ditzy, controlling diva from hell, Muriel, played efficiently by Rosie Perez. They live a humble life in the Queens, which Charlie likes, but Muriel despises.One day, Charlie and his cop partner go into a small diner where they meet Yvonne Biasi (Fonda), a hard-luck waitress who is enduring a hell day after she has been informed her credit card debt is $12,000 thanks to her unruly husband. Unable to grant her a tip, Charlie, whom bought a lottery ticket for his greedy wife earlier, says that if he wins the lottery he'll give half his earnings to her.It turns out Charlie and Muriel win $4 million dollars. It would've been a greater amount, but a bowling team gets an extra percentage since they chose the same numbers. Conflict emerges when Muriel believes that Yvonne is unworthy of the $2 million, or any amount. Charlie does the right thing, keeping his promise and awarding Yvonne $2 million. Inevitably, we can see what will happen, but the film does a great job of getting us to the expected conclusion.And sometimes, with a capable cast, a worthy script, and a nice sense of direction, a cliché story can be told like a surprising one. Not to mention, It Could Happen to You goes beyond its rom-com nature to tell a fascinating story about great characters, who are morally strong, yet are brought down in value by materialistic louses who want everything handed to them. Charlie seems like the man who deserves a good life, but instead, is always controlled and one-upped by his wife who expects him to bring home a hefty paycheck and be supportive of everything she brings up (case in point, a breast augmentation). Yvonne is beautiful, yet is leached off of by her lackadaisical husband who, again, expects her to put up with everything he puts down.These are characters we can truly side with. Some of them may be us and some of the villains may be people we know, and the film does a great job of illustrating that. The film doesn't over-exaggerate certain points just to do so. Although the story occupies a slight inkling of contrivance, the whole concept isn't entirely implausible. I've been told that this was a true story, and it bares a resemblance to those "random acts of kindness" stories you read in the tabloids. The film, itself, cracked my inner-cynic and made me feel warmer than any other romantic comedy in a long time. How many films could you truly say that about? Starring: Nicolas Cage, Bridget Fonda, Rosie Perez, Wendell Pierce, Isaac Hayes, and Stanley Tucci. Directed by: Andrew Bergman.

stephanlinsenhoff In the shadow of selfish greed: unselfish sharing. As example the movie It Could Happen to You (realitybased http://www.snopes.com/luck/lottery.htm; Cunningham, a thirty-year police veteran, was a regular diner at Sal's, where he liked to order linguine with clam sauce and maintain a steady flow of banter with Penzo, other employees, and regular customers. True to his lighthearted style, Cunningham was making a sort of joke on Friday evening, March 30, 1984, when he offered his favorite waitress an unusual tip: a half-interest in a lottery ticket. Each picked three of the six numbers; Cunningham walked across the street and bought their ticket. Penzo laughed, then forgot the incident until the next night, when the detective walked into Sal's Pizzeria after work with the winning ticket triumphantly clutched in his hand. It was worth six million dollars: three million for each of them. Cunningham, who ordinarily might have left a couple of dollars on the restaurant table, had no regrets about splitting the prize. After all, he says, Penzo helped pick the winning numbers). The movie balances Capras It's a wonderful life. It Could Happen to You is hollywoodfun. Reported by NYT 3 April 1984 it is framed as a New York Post fairy tale, as the 'Cinde-fucking-rella' Pretty Womans promised fairy tale. The photographer Angel Dupree narrates the seven chapters: 1. Cop gives waitress 2 $ M tip, 2. Lotto Robin Hood, 3. A night at the Plaza – Lotto Love, 4. The trial begins, 5. Lotto & waitress lost, 6. Their darkest hour and – after the first three minutes we know the happy ending: 7. Cop weds waitress. Foolish peoples 'silly' but good ideas are often responded by jealous greed and to want more, more and more. The naive good is luckily hidden behind the screaming selfish 'Muriels'. When finally Muriel is unable to take more of her husbands sharing style wants divorce, happy for his "A night at the Plaza Lotto Love" with his waitress. She wants not only his share of the lottery tip, also the promised away. But here she has crossed for Charlie the line. Charlie goes to court: "The trial begins" and the verdict: "The cop & waitress lost". The average rule: to get everything, everything must be lost is part of this fairy tale. "Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread", Proverbs 30:8. Attached the/a winning lottery ticket is the disappointment of all those who have bought a lottery ticket and lost, infecting the winner. The good example for this is Muriels sky rocking greed – and Charlie's lack to be infected, falling into the tempting trap. Charlie and soul mate Yvonne have the sharing in the backbone (as childpractised by the founder of the Camphill Movement Karl König 1902-1966 and showed to the staff for the disabled, among them dear friend Stefan Engqvist 1942-1980 (send to by food but gave the money to the needed in front of the store). When still in charge of the 'infected' money, Charlie and Yvonne try to balance with warm deeds: paying for the train journeys of passengers of the subway, treating the children of his neighborhood to a day out at Yankee Stadium, small gifts here and there unnoticed. And fail. When all is lost (Yvonne: "Because of me you have nothing", exclaims the waitress) the as a poor customer disguised photographer Angel asks at the Café the couple for a bowl of soup. The published photos in the next day's New York Post publicly eulogizes their willingness to feed a hungry and poor man in "Their darkest hour". Their generosity is answered by the citizens of New York City: thousands of letters with tips are send to them. This warm gesture is the answer why the screaming Michelle had the law with her. The verdict (above the judge are the words: In God we trust) tells that Gods ways are unpredictable not know but understandable then. The cop and the waitress had to win and to loose – getting everything. The 'Angel' Dupree and the 'angels' in Wim Wenders movie Wings of Desire help humans when they are able to contact their own angel, the child within. Some hear and listen, some not: the screaming environment is too loud. Muriel screams and can't. But Charlie can. But: was he really good all the way? When offering Yvonne the choice: Twice the tip amount, or half the lottery, if he won? Charlie was tempted for a moment, forgetting what he stands for. So Yvonne, tempted by choosing the infected lottery tip. But as sharing is their second nature, they woke up, avoiding in the last second deceiving corruption. Charlie's decision to go to court remembered him to be put back on track. Not a few remember and do not listen: "… give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread", Proverbs 30:8.