Jonathan Demme’s Married to the Mob is one of those movies that has greatness within
its reach but, having failed to acquire it, falls away badly. A pencil-thin Michelle
Pfeiffer, sporting a truly 80s hairdo, plays Angela de Marco, the dissatisfied wife
of mobster ’Cucumber’ Frank de Marco (Alec Baldwin). From her house filled with tacky,
ostentatious furniture, Angela yearns for a life of normality, so when Frank is executed
by his boss Tony (Dean Stockwell) for messing with his mistress she grabs the opportunity
to give away all the tack to charity and head for the city, out of the reach of the
mob and their bitchy, gossipy wives. Unfortunately, Tony takes a shine to Angela
and tracks her down to her run-down apartment…
The most disappointing aspect of Married to the Mob is the way it fades so badly
in its second half. While it focuses on the mob side of the story it flies along,
filled with brash colour, cartoonish but amusing characters and a throwaway violence
that combine to provide a rollercoaster ride. The ride grinds to a halt, though,
when Matthew Modine’s unconventional cop gets involved with Angela and forcibly recruits
her into working undercover for the FBI.
Pfeiffer gives a refreshingly endearing performance as the decent but common gangster’s
wife who longs for a normal life, but finds herself ill-equipped to cope once she
achieves a semblance of it, especially with a young son in tow (although writers
Barry Strugatz and Mark R. Burns choose not to explore that particular aspect of
the story). Pfeiffer fills her performance with all these quick grins and nervous
smiles that reveal the insecurity behind her initially brash, gum-chewing exterior.
Although her vulnerability is winning, it’s Dean Stockwell who gives the movie’s
most memorable performance as Tony ’The Tiger’ Russo, the mob boss whose snappy clothes
are a throwback to the Hollywood gangsters of the 1930s. He’s a scoundrel, without
a doubt, but you can’t help liking him for it…
