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Mafia widow Michelle Pfeiffer tries to start over, away from her late husband's criminal life. She moves into a crummy apartment on the bad side of town with her son and gets a job as a hairdresser. Meanwhile, she is followed by horny mafia boss Dean Stockwell out to sleep with her and undercover FBI agent Matthew Modine trying to nab Stockwell. Somewhat inevitably, Modine falls for Pfeiffer and things become complicated. Mostly light dramedy with a great cast. I've seen it called a screwball comedy but I can't really agree with that. It has too many serious moments for a screwball, I think. Pfeiffer is wonderful and owns the movie. Stockwell is also good with a fun performance by Mercedes Ruehl as his jealous wife. It's no classic but worth a look.

It ain't Shakespeare, that's true, but it is a light and breezy romp. Pfieffer and Modine and Baldwin and Dean Stockwell are all having a great time with this 'dissatisfied mob wife' tale, and you will too. Interesting to watch this in the light of the "sopranos"- they are like loopy relatives somehow. Demme went on to greater, darker films (silence of the lambs, philadelphia) but I still enjoy his lighter period. So will you.

The mobster 'Cucumber' Frank de Marco (Alec Baldwin) is married with the housewife Angela de Marco (Michelle Pfeiffer) and she in unhappy with their marriage and wants the divorce. Frank is having a love affair with Karen Lutnick (Nancy Travis), who is the mistress of his boss Tony 'The Tiger' Russo (Dean Stockwell). When Tony discovers their love affair, he kills them in a party. Tony is under surveillance of the FBI agents Mike Downey (Matthew Modine) and Ed Benitez (Oliver Platt) and during the wake, Tony kisses Angela. The agents and Tony's wife Connie Russo (Mercedes Ruehl) believe that the widow Angela is having an affair with Tony. Angela takes the opportunity to move from the suburbs to a small apartment in New York with her son. Meanwhile Mike bugs her apartment and soon they fall in love with each other. But Tony discovers her new address and courts her. Soon the FBI Senior Management blackmails Angela to force her to get close to Tony to help the FBI to arrest him and she discovers that Mike is an agent. Will Angela give a second chance to Mike?

"Married to the Mob" is another great film from the 80's, directed by Jonathan Demme and with a story with comedy, romance and action. The chemistry between Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Modine is impressive but Mercedes Ruehl steals the show. There is cameo participation of famous people and this movie is still attractive and has not aged after being watched many times along almost thirty years. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "De Caso com a Máfia" ("In an Affair with the Mafia")

A recently widowed mafia wife seeks a fresh start, but must deal with romantic overtures from a mob boss as well as an undercover FBI agent who's tailing her. Pfeiffer is wonderful as the woman who can't escape the mob life. Also good is Stockwell as the mob boss who makes the move on Pfeiffer. Modine, however, is miscast as an FBI agent on the case. The role calls for charm, but Modine is so geeky and awkward that it's hard to believe that Pfeiffer would fall for him. Baldwin, who plays Pfeiffer's husband, would have fared better in the Modine role. The supporting cast features a number of familiar faces. Demme provides the breezy direction.

Time does extraordinary things. It's the ultimate judge. Time has granted "Married To The Mob" an extra doses of freshness. There aren't any dead moments or cheap shots. It's more of a delight now than it ever was. Michelle Pfeiffer creates a mafia widow that it's as far away from a caricature as anything she's ever done. A true original creation touching or hinting at the stereotype just to guide us through but her Angela is quite unique. The legendary Dean Stockwell presents us with a a mafia boss that it's just as menacingly real as he is hilarious. And Matthew Modine? Why did I think back then that he didn't have any chemistry with Pfeiffer? I was wrong. They are wonderful together. They reminded me, this time, to the Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray of "Remember The Night" I'm writing this comment now to entice you to visit or revisit this Jonathan Demme gem.