Review of Married to the Mob (1988) by Lee M — 21 Apr 2013

"Married to the Mob" suffers from the problem most (if not all) mafia-related films suffer from and that is the fact that the good guys (in this case the FBI) can never be as interesting as the bad guys (in this case the Mafia) specially if there's Dean Stockwell involved on the other side.

In the light of this I failed to see Matthew Modine as the hero of the film and I found myself rooting all the way through for the mafia to win and when they of course don't I found myself slightly sad.

The problem lies partly in Modine's performance. It is so goofy, uncharismatic and (at times) creepy that I hoped more and more that he'd just disappear (be reassigned to find the Black Lodge if there's any luck).

More over as the secondary romantic lead, the otherwise good Michelle Pfeifer poses for a contradictory character (first being a first class bully with a pee-sized brain and than suddenly turning into this kind, considerate and intelligent person).

I never found myself much involved in their mediocre love story that takes up half the film. On the other side (the Mafia side) we have the ever-so-brilliant Dean Stockwell in a charismatic, hilarious and yet strangely realistic performance as the mob boss Tony "The Tiger" Russo who is afraid of nothing but his wife played brilliantly by Mercedes Ruehl.

There are several great scenes featuring either of them (like the one in which she threatens Pfeifer by breaking a package of eggs with her bare hands or the action scene in which Stockwell has a shoot out with a clown in a parking lot of a drive-through).

The problem (again) lies in the inability to marry the two stories in a satisfying narrative. The movie jumps from one side-story to another with a reckless disregard of the main story involving the murders of Alec Baldwin and Nancy Travis (another pair of performances better than the ones given by Pfeifer and Modine).

The film does eventually come together to a great climax in Miami (possibly the only satisfying part of the movie actually featuring Modine) but it somehow feels too late. I do however have to admit liking "Married to the Mob" to a fault and enjoying it while it lasted.

It's entertaining as long as you aren't in it for the love story.