A pleasant trifle. Lacking the disturbing edge of director Demme's previous effort SOMETHING WILD, MARRIED TO THE MOB is a gangster film with a twist and the idiosyncratic Demme touch. There is plenty to amuse and delight here, including fine performances from Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew
Modine, and Dean Stockwell.
The movie begins on Long Island, where the homes are full of gilded Mediterranean furniture, the men dress in pin-striped suits, and the women spend most of their time getting their hair teased at the local beauty salon. Angela DeMarco (Pfeiffer), wife of up-and-coming hit man Frank "The Cucumber"
DeMarco (Alec Baldwin), is tired of the criminal mentality of everyone around her and wants out. After Frank is caught by his boss, Mafia don Tony "The Tiger" Russo (Stockwell), with the boss's mistress and "iced," a couple of FBI agents (Modine and Oliver Platt) assume that Angela and Tony are
lovers. Angela packs up with her son (Anthony J. Nici) and moves into a seedy apartment on Manhattan's Lower East Side, only to have the Feds follow and keep her embroiled in the mob's doings. Of course, romance eventually blooms between Angela and agent Mike Downey (Modine).
The wonderfully tacky production design by Kristi Zea, the bizarre costumes by Colleen Atwood, the clash of musical styles in the score by David Byrne, and the eccentric performances of the entire cast combine to create a dizzying array of forces swirling around Pfeiffer. She plays her part fairly
straight, thus making everyone else seem that much more bizarre. Stockwell in particular is wonderful as the tyrannical hood. This was the last film appearance for veteran character actor Joe Spinell (TAXI DRIVER, ROCKY, NIGHT SHIFT), who has a small role as one of Stockwell's henchmen. He
appeared in 40 films in the 70s and 80s before his death in 1989. leave a comment