I know a lot of folks out there don’t seem to care about Nicolas Cage any more. I also understand that many folks never thought much of him as an actor to begin with. Regardless, I have always found some appeal to him. When I first saw “It Could Happen to You”, it was years ago and I only caught the latter half of the film. Years later, I saw the entire film and thought 2 things at once: Rosie Perez plays a vile woman, and Bridget Fonda is so likeable that it is entirely believable that Nic Cage would fall for her.
This is an older film, but a real treasure. It is more than a little far-fetched – but I am starting to think that is THE joy of a Romantic Comedy. This type of genre is meant as pure, feel-good candy and it’s important to take time out of our busy lives to absorb a film of this sort now and again. You can mock them all you want, but Romantic Comedies are crowd-pleasers and they never go out of style. I dare say that Romantic Comedies are ranked as the number one genre of movies that are repeatedly watched.
That having been said, take a moment to consider this film. It stars Nic Cage as a NY cop that lives life honestly and fairly and is committed to his work and the idea of simply being a police officer. His mean-spirited, ambitious wife is played with zeal by Rosie Perez. Narrating this tale is none other than the great Isaac Hayes. Bridget Fonda plays a waitress that married the wrong guy (played by Stanley Tucci) – who steals all her money – and has just filed for Bankruptcy.
The gist of the story is this: Nic Cage buys a lottery ticket and wins, but he promised this waitress a tip when he had no money to tip her so he promises to split the winnings with her. The real meat of this tale comes from Nic Cage and Bridget Fonda discovering that there are good-hearted people in the world and they run amok in NYC doing good deeds with all their money. Rosie Perez gets ticked and wants a divorce AND wants ALL the money. To summarize: she cares nothing for her husband and cares a whole lot about money. She wants to move out of Queens and he is perfectly content playing stick ball with the neighborhood kids.
So, you ask yourself: are there REALLY people like this in the world? I think you might be surprised at how many there really are. If you won $40 MILLION dollars suddenly and were fairly content with your life, what would you do? Oh sure, you’d buy a new car, pay off your credit cards, take a vacation, and a few other little indulgences, but after that you would still be left with a TON of money. What would you do? There’s a lot of good that could be done with that money, and I think a lot of ordinary folks would do some extraordinary things with it.
I think that’s what this film offers: a glimpse at the goodness you could bring into your own life by simply doing good for others. It’s fun to watch Bridget Fonda rejoice over doing all she can to help others. Nic Cage is also just very believable as a real life knight in shining armor. He does so much for others just by being himself. The courtroom scene is a complete farce, but it is necessary to complete the story. As unlikely as this story seems, it is also a real joy to see how the tale ends. There’s a lot of stories about how a city or a town suddenly unites behind a couple or in support of a cause suddenly, particularly concerning NYC. I can’t help myself, I enjoy them every single time – and this film has a truly great ending.
So, if you missed this far-fetched Romantic romp centered in the Big Apple, you may want to sit back and enjoy a pleasant story wherein good begets good and happiness abounds!
…and that’s it for this edition of the REEL VOICE
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