Movie · 1988 · Comedy, Crime, Romance · 1h 44m · R · English
Curator score: 5.3/10 (44.6K ratings)
They're her family... Whether she likes it or not.
Overview
Angela de Marco is fed up with her gangster husband's line of work and wants no part of the crime world. When her husband is killed for having an affair with the mistress of mob boss Tony "The Tiger" Russo, Angela and her son depart for New York City to make a fresh start. Unfortunately, Tony has set his sights upon Angela -- and so has an undercover FBI agent looking to use her to bust Tony.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.3/10
IMDb: 6.3/10
Letterboxd: 3.47/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
Metacritic: 71
TMDB: 6.0/10
Director
Jonathan Demme
Production
Orion Pictures, Mysterious Arts, A Luta Continua
Cast
Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell, Mercedes Ruehl, Alec Baldwin, Trey Wilson, Joan Cusack, Oliver Platt, Paul Lazar, 'Sister' Carol East, Ellen Foley, Chris Isaak, O-Lan Jones, Nancy Travis, Frank Gio, David Johansen, Gary Klar, Warren Miller, Anthony J. Nici, Steve Vignari
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A stylish, offbeat mob comedy with real personality: funny, romantic, and sharper about gender roles than its premise suggests. Michelle Pfeiffer anchors it with charisma, and Jonathan Demme’s pop-art energy keeps the movie lively even when the plot goes broad.
Best for
Viewers who like crime comedies with a romantic streak
Fans of 1980s studio movies with bold visual style
People interested in female-led takes on gangster stories
Audiences who enjoy quirky, character-driven genre mashups
Skip if
You want a hard-edged or realistic mob film
You prefer tightly plotted crime stories over tonal playfulness
You dislike broad comedy mixed with violence
You’re looking for a purely romance-focused movie
Overview
Married to the Mob takes a familiar gangster setup and flips the center of gravity. Instead of glorifying the men, it follows Angela as she tries to build a life outside the mob’s orbit, and the movie is most alive when it treats that as both a liberation story and a screwball headache. Michelle Pfeiffer gives it elegance, wit, and a grounded frustration that keeps the comedy from floating away.
Worth noting
Jonathan Demme brings a restless, candy-colored style that makes the film feel breezy even as it keeps circling control, identity, and the ways women get boxed in by the men around them. The movie is funny, but it’s also slyly observant about marriage, performance, and reinvention. It’s less interested in mob mechanics than in the social chaos surrounding them.
Bottom line
The result is a movie that can seem slight at first glance and then reveal how carefully it’s built. It’s not the most famous gangster comedy, but it has a distinct voice, a great lead performance, and enough visual and tonal invention to stand apart from the pack.
Top Letterboxd reviews
David Sims (4.5★) · 1438 likes
"Oh, there's a big difference, Mrs. de Marco. The mob is run by murdering, thieving, lying, cheating psychopaths. We work for the President of the United States of America."
Patrick Willems (4★) · 1163 likes
Matthew Modine has a goddamn Wallace and Gromit-style contraption in his bed to put his clothes on for him. A truly legendary dork.
matt lynch (4★) · 696 likes
Trust Demme to make a mob movie that's not about men.
IanB (3★) · 621 likes
More movies should have a 10-minute end credit sequence that recaps the movie using B-roll footage accompanied to a medley of songs the director likes.
Sam Herbst (4★) · 448 likes
In any other mob movie Michelle Pfeiffer would be the caricature but Matthew Modine said absolutely not and jumped off his bed into his pants
1984 · Action, Comedy, Crime · 2h 1m · R · Curator 4.0/10 (20.4K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A New York crime dramedy with colorful personalities and a loose, street-level energy.