Long Island mafia widow Angela de Marco (Michelle Pfeiffer) seeks out a better life in the goof
Long Island mafia widow Angela de Marco (Michelle Pfeiffer) seeks out a better life in the goofy screwball comedy Married to the Mob (1988, Jonathan Demme; with Dean Stockwell and Alec Baldwin). Some reviews:“1988 was a defining year in Pfeiffer’s career, thanks in part to her performance as Angela de Marco, the widow of a Mafia enforcer, in Jonathan Demme’s Married to the Mob. The film is hilarious, sometimes even downright farcical in its approach to mob life. That could easily lead an actress to play Angela too broad, especially as she’s so eager to discard her old life. Pfeiffer has great comedic moments here, particularly in the climax when she licks her lips before throwing an intense punch. But despite her big hair, accent, and haphazard walk, it’s the quiet longing in Angela’s eyes that linger most. It’s a hilarious performance anchored by pathos that transforms the film into something genuinely moving.” — Angelica Jade Bastién, “The 10 Essential Roles of Michelle Pfeiffer”, Vulture (June 2017)“None of it would work without Michelle Pfeiffer, who gets a few choice line-readings as disgruntled mob wife Angela de Marco — her pouty Long Island inflection on the declaration “I want a divorce!” is a particular highlight — but she’s an essential grounding force for the goofballs in her orbit… Demme reserves a lot of genuine feeling for Angela, whose biographical particulars (raised in Queens, one semester at a beauty academy, great follicles) virtually guaranteed that she would end up with a slickster like “Cucumber” Frank de Marco. As much as Demme surrounds her with tacky nouveau-riche décor and colorful eccentrics, Angela’s shot at a second chance in life is seen as courageous and hard-won. She’s pounded the pavement like the rest of the stiffs who circle the classified ads and trudge from one humiliating job interview to the next; it’s a steep drop from the Valium haze of her suburban life to the humble office of a leering Chicken Lickin’ manager… As single-mother empowerment stories go, Married to the Mob stands up to many more austere treatments, owing to Demme and Pfeiffer’s unironic commitment to the character’s plight.” — Scott Tobias, AV Club (July 2009) -- source link
#michelle pfeiffer#actress#comedy#feminism#oscar nominee#jonathan demme#alec baldwin#dean stockwell#women-centric cinema