Married to the Mob
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Married to the Mob is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Modine.
Michelle Pfeiffer, in something of a departure from her previous roles, gave an acclaimed lead performance as a gangster's widow from Brooklyn, opposite Matthew Modine as the undercover FBI agent assigned the task of investigating her mafia connections.
As a slippery mob boss romantically pursuing Angela, Dean Stockwell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Plot
Angela de Marco (Michelle Pfeiffer) is the wife of mafia up-and-comer Frank "The Cucumber" de Marco (Alec Baldwin), who gets violently dispatched by Mob boss Tony "The Tiger" Russo (Dean Stockwell) when he is discovered in a compromising situation with the latter's mistress Karen (Nancy Travis). Angela wants to escape the mafia scene with her son, but is harassed by Tony who puts the moves on her at Frank's funeral. This clinch earns her the suspicion of FBI agents Mike Downey (Matthew Modine) and Ed Benitez (Oliver Platt), and also of Tony's wife Connie (Mercedes Ruehl), who repeatedly confronts Angela with accusations of stealing her husband. To further complicate things, Mike Downey is assigned to monitor all of Angela's movements as part of an undercover surveillance operation, but cannot resist becoming romantically involved with Angela himself. Angela's attempts to break away from the Mob result in comic mayhem and a climactic showdown in a honeymoon suite in Miami.
Cast
- Michelle Pfeiffer as Angela de Marco
- Matthew Modine as Agent Michael "Mike" Downey
- Dean Stockwell as Anthony "Tony the Tiger" Russo
- Mercedes Ruehl as Connie Russo
- Paul Lazar as Tommy Boyle
- Alec Baldwin as Frank "The Cucumber" de Marco
- Joan Cusack as Rose
- Ellen Foley as Theresa
- O-Lan Jones as Phyllis
- Oliver Platt as Agent Edward "Ed" Benitez
- Nancy Travis as Karen Lutnick
- Sister Carol as Rita 'Hello Gorgeous' Harcourt
- Tracey Walter as Mr. Chicken Lickin'
- Chris Isaak as The Clown
- Obba Babatunde as The Face of Justice
- Charles Napier as Ray, Angela's hairdesser
- Frank Ferrera as Vinnie "The Slug"
- Gary Howard Klar as Al 'The Worm'
- Gary Goetzman as The Guy at the Piano
- Jonathan Demme as Man getting off elevator in Miami
- Al Lewis as Uncle Joe
