Married to the Mob (1988)

Directed by Jonathan Demme. Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell, Mercedes Ruehl, Alec Baldwin, Oliver Platt, Trey Wilson, Paul Lazar, “Sister” Carol East, Joan Cusack, Al Lewis, Nancy Travis. [R]

Flaky farce of Pfeiffer’s fed-up Long Island mob wife, whose husband (Baldwin) gets whacked for sleeping with the boss’ mistress, and now she has to fend off the unwanted advances of said boss (Stockwell) while trying to restart her life. Meanwhile, Modine’s FBI agent becomes inadvertently involved with her while investigating her ties to the criminal underworld, and they start falling for each other. Sounds more convoluted than it is, and the plot is (at best) post-secondary to the quirky character work and broad comedy hijinks. It never really gets going, resulting in stalled momentum at a couple of junctures, but Pfeiffer is an appealing mix of warmth, guts, and tackiness, and Stockwell and Ruehl both deliver the goods (the latter plays the boss’ jealous wife, a hilarious cartoon character of a vengeful woman scorned). Only Modine misses the mark, never vibing with the rest of the cast and failing to find a receptive angle to his semi-schnook of an uptight lawman weakened by Pfeiffer’s ample charms (maybe he was still shell-shocked from working with Stanley Kubrick?). Eclectic soundtrack mixes the likes of Pixies, Tom Tom Club, and New Order with “Mambo Italiano”; Silence of the Lambs fans may be surprised to hear that Demme inserted Q Lazzarus’ “Goodbye Horses” in one of his films a few years before Buffalo Bill more famously showed his appreciation.

70/100