It Could Happen to You (1994)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Andrew Bergman

Writer (WGA):

Jane Anderson (written by)

Release Date:

29 July 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A cop. A waitress. A lottery ticket.

Plot:

A police officer promises to share his lottery ticket with a waitress in lieu of a tip.

Plot Keywords:

Lottery | Waitress | Money | Ticket | Police Officer

Cast

Nicolas Cage	...	Charlie Lang
Bridget Fonda	...	Yvonne Biasi
Rosie Perez	...	Muriel Lang
Wendell Pierce	...	Bo Williams
Isaac Hayes	...	Angel Dupree
Víctor Rojas	...	Jesu
Seymour Cassel	...	Jack Gross
Stanley Tucci	...	Eddie Biasi
J.E. Freeman	...	Sal Bontempo
Red Buttons	...	Walter Zakuto
Richard Jenkins	...	C. Vernon Hale
Robert Dorfman	...	Walter
Charles Busch	...	Timothy
Beatrice Winde	...	Judge
Ginny Yang	...	Mrs. Sun

Also Known As:

Cop Gives Waitress $2 Million Tip! (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Germany:6 | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8 | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG (certificate #32943) | Norway:7 | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Bethsheba Terrace, Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

TriStar Pictures

Trivia:

Released in the UK in the same week that the National Lottery was launched.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The script implies that the bowling team will get a larger share of the jackpot because five people bought the ticket. It doesn't work that way. Each ticket draws the same money.

Quotes:

Yvonne Biasi: Who wants ice cream on their pie? Who wants pie?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Critic: Siskel & Ebert & Jay & Alice (#2.2)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

They Can't Take That Away from Me

"Cop Gives Waitress $2 Million Tip!" was working title

I've read that,among other people,critic Roger Ebert liked the afore-mentioned title for this movie as opposed to the name it actually got. Am I alone in the only one who thinks that the original title was NOT a good idea? Think about it:how easily would the title of above roll of the tongue when discussing movies or going to the ticket window? Titles that have indirect subjects in their sentences to me,seem like they're trying to test the memory of the viewer wanting to see the film as much as they are trying to get his or her attention.

OK,'nuff said about that.

As for the movie: Unapologetically sweet,this is one part fairy-tale,one part morality lesson(like those two elements COULDN'T be one and the same thing!),using none other than the Big Apple as its backdrop.

Honest beat cop Charlie Lang(Nicolas Cage in possibly one of the least conflicted and cleanest character portrayals he's given)is short of change one day and,while stopping for coffee at a street diner,uses in lieu of a tip,part of his lottery ticket to the harried but pretty and good-natured waitress(Bridget Fonda,in a word:likable). When that ticket wins a large,metro-area jackpot,Charlie does the right thing and splits his portion of the winnings with the waitress,who needs that money desperately: she's in debt to her ears and has a mooch of an ex-husband(Stanley Tucci)who won't leave her alone. This act of generosity does not sit well at all with Charlie's vain wife Muriel(a screechy,believable Rosie Perez),who eventually acts to have Charlie--and in the process Yvonne the waitress--cut from the winnings entirely.

People who like to complain that movies these days have no sense of either morality or sentimentality would be wisely steered in the direction of this flick. Even though it's over a decade old,it's story is easily transferable and,while I am usually loathe to suggest remakes,would actually be receptive to a remake of this film(provided the screenwriter and director were willing to change some elements of the story,like location,circumstances or even genders). A film that seems to have been made by the ghost of Frank Capra,who would've been possessing Andrew Bergman(who successfully directed Mr.CAge in "HOneymoon in Vegas" a few years before). A good rent for anyone who likes a little sentimentality in their comedy.