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It Could Happen to You (1994) 6.3
A police officer promises to share his lottery ticket with a waitress in lieu of a tip. Director:Andrew BergmanWriter:Jane Anderson |
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Nicolas Cage | ... |
Charlie Lang
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| Bridget Fonda | ... |
Yvonne Biasi
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| Rosie Perez | ... |
Muriel Lang
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| Wendell Pierce | ... |
Bo Williams
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| Isaac Hayes | ... | ||
| Víctor Rojas | ... |
Jesu
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| Seymour Cassel | ... |
Jack Gross
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| Stanley Tucci | ... |
Eddie Biasi
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| J.E. Freeman | ... |
Sal Bontempo
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| Red Buttons | ... |
Walter Zakuto
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| Richard Jenkins | ... |
C. Vernon Hale
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Robert Dorfman | ... |
Walter
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| Charles Busch | ... |
Timothy
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Beatrice Winde | ... |
Judge
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Ginny Yang | ... |
Mrs. Sun
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Edit
Plot Summary
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Storyline
Charlie and Muriel Lang have led simple lives - for most of their existance. That's until they win $4 million on the lottery! There is a problem, however. Prior to winning the lottery, Charlie had eaten at a cafe and hadn't been able to tip the waitress. He had promised her, jokingly, that if he won the lottery he'd give her half of it. This is why his wife, Muriel decides to leave him. She doesn't want the waitress to get a cent of their money. Infact she wants all $4 million for herself! Written by Michael Feller <reb@magna.com.au>
Plot Keywords:
lottery | waitress | winning the lottery | police officer | new york city |Taglines:
A cop. A waitress. A lottery ticket. See more »Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated PG for mild language and a scene of cop action | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
29 July 1994 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Cop Gives Waitress $2 Million Tip! See more »Filming Locations:
Plaza Hotel - 750 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA See more »Box Office
Gross:
£300,230 (UK) (11 November 1994)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Charlie Lang: Because of you, I have you.
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Did You Know?
Trivia
The movie is based on the true story of Phyllis Penzo and Officer Robert Cunningham. For twenty-four years, Penzo served as a waitress at Sal's Pizzeria in Yonkers, New York. Cunningham, a thirty-year veteran of the police force in nearby Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., was a regular customer at the restaurant, well-liked by the staff there. (His favorite dish was linguine with clams.) One day in March, 1984, Cunningham asked Penzo for help picking his weekly lottery numbers. Penzo suggested three numbers, and Cunningham came up with three more numbers on his own. Cunningham jokingly promised that if he won, he would split the winnings with Penzo as a tip. The next day, to Penzo's surprise, Cunningham and his wife came to the diner with the winning lottery ticket in hand. Cunningham's ticket had won $6 million, which he split with Penzo, giving her $3 million. In real life, however (as stated in a disclaimer at the end of the movie), Cunningham and Penzo were both happily married to other people for many years. See more »Goofs
When the movie begins, the coffee shop is called "Ideal". After she buys it, Yvonne changes the name to "Yvonne's". When Charlie comes to the shop to find Yvonne (the first time that they are together after the court verdict), the name of the shop is "Ideal" again. But if you look closely, the Yvonne's sign is still up, just darkened. Obviously with the money awarded to Muriel, Yvonne would had sold the coffee shop back to her original boss, hence it is in the middle of re-doing the sign. See more »Quotes
Yvonne Biasi: Because of me, you have nothing.Charlie Lang: Because of you, I have you.
See more »
If you judge "It Could Happen to you" by its amount of realistic situations and characters, you'll probably give it a 4 out of 10. But, who cares about realism here? It's like a modern fairy tale, Frank Capra transported into the 90s. There's a wonderful storyline (Cop gives waitress a 2 million dollar tip), which apparently is even based on real-life events. Nicolas Cage plays the most honest cop imaginable, and he proves he can play a romantic lead role just as well as a dramatic action/thriller one. His character is not exactly 100 percent realistic, but that's not a problem, this is Hollywood for heaven's sake.
Even better than Cage is his female leading lady: the fascinating Bridget Fonda. Fonda is a wonderful actress who can play both a cute character like her waitress Yvonne here and more challenging roles like the LadyMacBeth-similar one in "A Simple Plan". Unfortunately she never had the career of a Julia Roberts but she is in fact more talented and better looking. Throughout the whole movie she gives a good performance and looks gorgeous. If I had the choice of giving a waitress the lottery money or not and the woman looked like Fonda I might even give it to her. Of course there aren't so many waitresses out there that look (and behave) as charming as her and chances are low I'll ever win two millions in the lottery.
Also notable is the wonderful chemistry between Cage and Fonda. As for the supporting roles special mention has to go to Perez. Although you wonder why Cage married her in the first place, she gives a humorous and entertaining performance. Of course there's kitsch but that's not necessarily bad. Good kitsch can be wonderful and this film, that has an absolutely great happy ending, serves as a perfect example of how a romantic comedy should be filmed. It's better than "Pretty Woman".