It Could Happen to You (1994)

It could happen to you is a well made film about a police officer and his wife and how they won the lottery. BUT.... what his wife (Rosie Perez) doesn't know is that he had promised about half of his winnings to this waitress (Bridget Fonda) at a diner when he didn't have a tip to give her. This waitress had just very recently filed for bankruptcy and was struggling to get up enough money to divorce her jackass of a husband (Stanley Tucci). The movie has an interesting plot to it which I just explained, and that's what originally interested me in watching it. It's also very well acted and I thought the casting choices were great. First of all, Rosie Perez plays her role immensely well! I loved her as the b****y money obsessed wife of Nicholas cage. She has some really funny lines and some great scenes where her true colors as a character shine through. Nicholas Cage is good as the lead character. He is honest, kind hearted, and an all around decent guy who's just trying to do the right thing. And then we have Bridget Fonda. I really liked her as the waitress who Cage awards half his lottery winnings to. She's sweet, bubbly, but not bubbly in a brainless and stupid way, intelligent, and a character with a good bit of depth. The script had good humor, romance, and some warm hearted moments. 7/10 for it could happen to you.

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.

This movie is a movie of good taste and true life. The story, set in New York, has a fairy tale charm to it that delivers so well that you start to believe it to the point of feeling the emotions of the characters. From laughing to crying to hating to loving, this movie has all the emotions you could expect from the perfect film. I was, surprisingly, extremely happy with the choice of watching this movie, and it turned out to now be one of my favorites. Unlike many other films of the genre, this movie does not once get boring or slow... the pace is always just right and the scenes never tire. Overall, this movie is sure to make you feel good about humanity, people, yourself, and life. I would recommend this movie 100% and hope you give it a chance. You will not be disappointed!

I didn't realise that this Frank Capra like titled film from director Andrew Bergman (Honeymoon in Vegas, Striptease) was based on a true story, so I was certainly going to try it. Basically New York police officer Charlie Lang (Nicolas Cage) has a heart of gold, and when unable to give coffee shop waitress Yvonne Biasi (Bridget Fonda), he promises to give either the tip or half his lottery winnings, if he wins, to her the next day. Unbelievably, Charlie and his wife Muriel (Rosie Perez) do win the lottery jackpot, sharing $4,000,000 with seven other winners, and of course Charlie still wants to stick to the promise he made to Yvonne. Muriel of course is mad that he made this promise in the first place, and is sticking to it, and Yvonne is shocked to be given $2,000,000. Over time, Muriel is demanding a divorce from Charlie, wanting the full cash settlement, plus what he gave to Yvonne. It is when Charlie and Yvonne have fallen for each other, after the split, that they are both determined to win their case. They don't win the case to keep the $2,000,000, but in the end they get lots of the money back from generous senders who know they deserve to do something good with it. Also starring Wendell Pierce as Bo Williams, Isaac Hayes as Angel Dupree, Víctor Rojas as Jesu, Seymour Cassel as Jack Gross, Stanley Tucci as Eddie Biasi, J.E. Freeman as Sal Bontempo, Red Buttons as Walter Zakuto, Richard Jenkins as C. Vernon Hale and Robert Dorfman as Walter. Considering it is based on truth, this is a nice charming film with the romantic comedy theme, with Cage, Fonda and Perez all making top form performances. Worth watching!