SCREENSHOTS:
Director: Andrew Bergman
Writer: Jane Anderson
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Bridget Fonda and Rosie Perez
STORY:
Policeman
Charlie Lang (Nicolas Cage) is a kind and generous man who loves his
job and the Queens area of New York City where he lives. His wife Muriel
(Rosie Perez) works in a hairdressing salon and, unlike Charlie, is
selfish, greedy and materialistic, constantly complaining about their
situation in life. Waitress Yvonne Biasi (Bridget Fonda), is bankrupt
because her husband Eddie (Stanley Tucci), whom she had cannot yet
afford to divorce, emptied their joint checking account and spent all
the money without her permission, while also leaving her with a credit
card debt of over $12,000. Charlie meets Yvonne when she waits on him at
the diner where she works. Since Charlie 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 (in 21
annual payments) in the lottery the next day and keeps his promise,
despite the protests of his wife. He and Yvonne become stars almost
immediately. Yvonne buys the diner she was working in. She sets up a
table with Charlie's name at which people who cannot afford food can eat
for free. In another development, Charlie becomes a hero for foiling
an attempted robbery at a grocery store but gets wounded in the
process, forcing him to take leave from the police force.
At
a gathering on a chartered boat for the lottery winners and other
members of high society, Muriel gets to know the newly rich Jack Gross.
She flirts with him and develops a strong liking for him, which is
mutual. Meanwhile, Charlie and Yvonne spend a lot of time together, on
one occasion paying for the train journeys of passengers of the subway,
and on another treating the children of his neighbourhood to a day out
at Yankee Stadium, about which the media report. Muriel gets fed up
with Charlie's constant donations and overall simplicity and throws him
out of their apartment, asking for a divorce. That same evening,
Yvonne leaves her apartment after her husband shows up and threatens to
stay until he gets $50,000 from her. Quite innocently, Charlie and
Yvonne run into each other at the Plaza Hotel and, unintentionally, end
up spending the night together.
During divorce
proceedings between Muriel and Charlie, Muriel demands all the money
that Charlie won for herself. Charlie doesn't mind giving his share of
the money but Muriel also wants the money he gave Yvonne, and Charlie's
steadfast unwillingness to do so causes Muriel to take the case to
court. The jury decides in her favor. Yvonne, feeling guilty at costing
Charlie all his money, runs out of court in tears and tries to keep
away from him. But the cop, by now hopelessly in love with the
waitress, finds her at the diner and tells her that the money means
nothing to him, and they declare their love for each other. While
ruminating about their future at the diner and considering a possible
move to Buffalo, they are gracious enough to provide a hungry and poor
customer some soup, which he eats at the special table. The poor
customer is none other than the disguised Angel Dupree, who takes
photos of the couple and in the next day's newspapers publicly
eulogises their willingness to feed a hungry and poor man even in their
darkest hour. Just as Charlie and Yvonne are moving out of town, the
citizens of New York City, no doubt touched by the generosity of the
couple, send "the cop and the waitress" thousands of letters with tips
totaling over $600,000, enough to help pay their debts.
After
Muriel gets remarried, her new husband Jack Gross flees the country
with all the money from their checking account, revealing himself to be
a con man. She then has no option but to move in with her mother in
the Bronx and go back to her old manicure job. Eddie Biasi, now
divorced from Yvonne, ends up becoming a taxi driver. Charlie happily
returns to the police force and Yvonne reclaims the diner. At the
film's end, Charlie and Yvonne get married and begin their honeymoon by
taking off from Central Park in a hot air balloon that bears the New
York Post headline "Cop Weds Waitress", just before the closing credits
roll.
No comments:
Post a Comment