Taglines: It’s not about money. It’s about life.
It Could Happen to You movie 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!
It Could Happen to You is a 1994 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda. It is the story of New York City police officer (Nicolas Cage) who wins the lottery and splits his winnings with a waitress (Bridget Fonda). This basic premise was inspired by a real-life incident. Isaac Hayes has a role as undercover reporter and photographer Angel Dupree, while also being the film’s narrator.
About the Story
NYPD officer Charlie Lang (Nicolas Cage) is a kind and generous man who loves his job in Queens, New York, where he lives. His wife, Muriel (Rosie Perez), works at a hair salon and, unlike him, is greedy, materialistic, and selfish, constantly complaining about their situation in life.
Waitress Yvonne Biasi (Bridget Fonda) is bankrupt because her husband, Eddie (Stanley Tucci), whom she could not yet afford to divorce, emptied their joint checking account without her permission, while also leaving her with over $12,000 in credit card debt. Charlie meets her when she waits on him at the diner where she works. Since he doesn’t have enough money to pay the tip, he promises to give her either double the tip or half of his prospective lottery winnings the next day. He wins $4 million ($6.5 million today) in the lottery the next day and keeps his promise, despite Muriel’s protests.
He and Yvonne become stars almost immediately. She buys the diner and sets up a table with his name at which people who can’t afford a meal can eat for free. In another development, he becomes a hero for foiling an attempted robbery at a grocery store but gets wounded in the process, forcing him to take a leave of absence from the police force. Meanwhile, Muriel goes on a shopping spree, and also contracts for disruptive renovations to their apartment without consulting him.
At a gathering on a chartered boat for the lottery winners and other members of high society, Muriel meets the newly rich Jack Gross. She flirts with him, listens to his advice on financial investments, and develops a strong liking for him, which is mutual. Meanwhile, Charlie and Yvonne, accidentally left behind on the pier, spend a lot of time together, on one occasion paying for the train journeys of subway passengers, and on another treating the neighborhood children to a day out at Yankee Stadium, about which the media report.
Muriel gets fed up with his constant donations and overall simplicity and throws him out of their apartment, asking for a divorce. That same evening, Yvonne leaves her apartment after Eddie shows up and threatens to stay until he gets $50,000 from her. Quite innocently, she and Charlie run into each other at the Plaza Hotel and, unintentionally, end up spending the night together.
It Could Happen to You (1994)
Directed by: Andrew Bergman
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Bridget Fonda, Rosie Perez, Isaac Hayes, Seymour Cassel, Stanley Tucci, J.E. Freeman, Red Buttons, Richard Jenkins, Beatrice Winde, Ginny Yang
Screenplay by: Jane Anderson
Production Design by: Bill Groom
Cinematography by: Caleb Deschanel
Film Editing by: Barry Malkin
Costume Design by: Julie Weiss
Set Decoration by: George DeTitta Jr.
Art Direction by: Dennis Bradford
Music by: Carter Burwell
MPAA Rating: PG for mild language and a scene of cop action.
Distributed by: TriStar Pictures
Release Date: July 29, 1994
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