A movie sometimes, actually, most of the time, needs a nudge in the right casting direction. For Married to the Mob, we have Michelle Pfeiffer and Dean Stockwell in two big roles, and others for Matthew Modine and Mercedes Ruehl to sink their teeth into, too. Each actor takes over the role in his or her own way, and makes these characters into well-rounded people. The key for Jonathan Demme is this: people. They're not simply cartoon figures in a farce, but like in a good ol' screwball comedy from the days of Cary Grant, we got a premise and story that begs for actors who are so smart that they can get playing dumb, or just off-kilter or a little deranged. When we see Pfeiffer here, we believe that she's at a crossroads in her life, and she doesn't play it for laughs. Instead, she lets others around her go more over the top. In another story, she would be just as believable as an uncertain widow with a past she'd rather forget.

And yes, Dean Stockwell is here in another gob-smackingly good acting gig (he even got an unlikely supporting actor nod for it). There's something about the guy that is just a little creepy, not really his fault, per-say, except that it's something in his eyes, his mannerisms, the way he'll glance at a character he doesn't trust or has something really to say to. He did this perfectly in his one scene in Blue Velvet, and to a more restrained extent in Tucker The Man & His Dream. Here, however, he goes to town as a mob-boss caricature, but he also doesn't do ALL of the heavy lifting. He is still subtle compared to Ruehl's turn as Russo's wife, who has insane jealousy (and rightfully so, perhaps, if not so far as she goes),and is so over the top that she does her best to chew scenery every which way she can.

So then, with a good premise, and some fine supporting actors (Alec Baldwin has a few decent moments too),what's the problem? I think, perhaps, Demme wasn't always sure how to take the comedy where it needed to go. The script has the characters playing up behavior, which works well when, for example, Modine's "Mike Smith" is caught in a rock and a hard place in going out on a date with Angela. But other set-pieces sort of fall flat, and the ending is unsatisfying (especially irritating is Demme's decision to put in deleted clips from the film in the end credits, his way of doing 'outtakes'). And some of the dialog is over-cooked, making the actors strain to make it credible consistently.

But Married to the Mob is fun within a certain frame of mind. It plays up some clichés like it's going out of style (which is sort of did) and leaves out others, and you may enjoy seeing the actors enjoying themselves in the scenes. It's a lighthearted affair, with touches of appropriate mob violence, and David Byrne of the Talking Heads doing the music!

After being a fragile flower in "Dangerous Liaisons" and the victim of the nefarious Glenn Close, Michelle Pfeiffer goes nearly to the other side of the spectrum as the widow of a murdered mobster who becomes the subject of an FBI investigation and the target of vindictive mob wife Mercedes Ruehl who believes that Pfeiffer is having an affair with her husband Dean Stockwell. The rather naive Matthew Modine is the FBI agent assigned to follow her, falling in love with her, and given her the opportunity to prove her innocence. From the suburbs of "Lawng Iwland" to the lower east side and finally to Miami, this mob comedy will have you in hysterics from start to finish, starting with a great Rosemary Clooney Italian anthem.

While Pfeiffer is a terrific heroine and has a believable New Yawk accent and Stockwell got the Oscar nomination, it's Ruehl who walks away with the film, so deliciously obnoxious that you had expect her to break into laughter at any second out of character because she's having such a good time playing this scene stealing role. Modine is understated and thus fades into the background a bit, but he does get some great disguises. Alec Baldwin is seen briefly as Pfeiffer's cheating husband, initially seen performing a hit on the Long Island Railroad, then the victim of the hit himself. Al Lewis, Grandpa Munster, is amusing in a small cameo. The direction of Jonathan Demme is perfect, and the atmosphere delightfully crude and colorful in a tactless manner. A modern comedy classic that I can watch over and over again, whether to hear "Mambo Italiano" or Ruehl curse up a storm.

Jonathan Demme's "Married to the Mob" is an undeniably silly movie. Very much a situation comedy. Nonetheless, you can't help but enjoy it, with Michelle Pfeiffer's character trying to restart her life following her husband's murder, while under surveillance by the FBI due to a connection to a mob boss (Dean Stockwell in an Academy Award-nominated role). The hair and clothes truly mark this as the '80s. The line that really made me laugh was Mercedes Ruehl's character's snap at the airline agent.

Basically, the movie is a good time. Who would've guessed that over the course of his career, Jonathan Demme would direct a movie about an encounter with a possible Howard Hughes, a story of a mafia wife trying to break away, a thriller about an FBI agent working with a cannibal, a drama about an AIDS-afflicted lawyer, and a movie about the horrors experienced by a former slave?

In addition to the aforementioned cast members, the movie also has Matthew Modine, Oliver Platt, Alec Baldwin, Joan Cusack, Chris Isaak, David Johansen, Charles Napier and Al Lewis. To put it another way, the movie stars Catwoman, Pvt. Joker, the boy with green hair, The Shadow, Jesse, a singer, The Ghost of Christmas Past, the leader of the Good Old Boys, and Grandpa Munster.