Bergman Happens To Find a Great Duo

It Could Happen to You

Directed by Andrew Bergman

At local theaters

Opens today

Could it happen to you? Possibly. Does it happen to someone? Most definitely. Does it mater if it could not happen to you? you bet it does. Falling in love sometimes feels like winning the lottery, and Harvard students often feel like they have the same odds for having either of these wonderful things happen to them. But the point here is not the statistical probability of either situation. "It Could Happen to You" does not call on your logical, rational mind to calculate probabilities, it asks you to imagine the possibilities.

In the genre of classic romantic, comedies with duos such as Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, director Andrew Bergman has found a cinematic piece de resistance in Bridget Fonda and Nicholas Cage. While the characters they play are basically one-dimensional and the film revolves around a simple, funny plot, "It Could Happen to You" sands alone as the best romantic comedy of the summer.

This film doesn't have the timely references of "When Harry Met Sally " but is not a remake of an older classic like "Sleepless in Seattle." This movie is only trying to tell the story of how two people fall in love under unusual, and sometimes harrowing, circumstances.

Nicholas Cage plays the good cop and sincerely sweet man, Charlie Lang, who leaves a lottery ticket as a tip to the waitress Yvonne Biasi, played by, you guessed, it, Bridget Fonda. You've probably seen the many trailers on T.V. on in the theaters so you know what happens next.

Charlie wins, splits the money with Yvonne and has to endure the wrath of his loud-mouthed, rambunctious and greedy wife, Muriel, played by Rosie Perez.

Charlie and Yvonne spend their money to help others, paying for everyone in a subway station to ride the train, renting Yankee Stadium for the neighborhood kids to spend an afternoon playing real baseball instead of stickball in the street. They know that generosity is the best way for them to enjoy their winnings. Muriel, on the other hand, visits the trendiest and most expensive shops in Manhattan, wardrobing herself with tacky clothing to her heart's content.

Predictably enough, Charlie and Yvonne fall for each other and Muriel decides she cannot take living in Queens any longer. She wants the high life and plastic surgery and her high school sweetheart, Charlie, who has lost his simple charms in her eyes, to shape up or move out.

It doesn't matter that this film is predictable. We know what's going to happen to all the characters before we enter the theater. Sometimes it's enough to see two people who share the same simple values fall in love.

Unfortunately, some of the plot structures hinder the storytelling. For some odd reason, Bergman and, I presume, screenwriter Jane "Anderson, decide to have the movie narrated by an outsider, Angel played by Isaac Hayes. At first it seems as if this Angles is supposed to be just that, some sort of guardian angel watching over the budding romance. When Angel turns out to be a photographer for one of the many tabloids who have been covering this unusual story, I felt a bit cheated.

The narrative techniques interrupt the flow of the film and Angel's odd appearances only hinder the storytelling instead of enhancing it. Angel sneakily walks on and off the screen, but the revelation of who he is does not justify these constant interruptions. Furthermore, and most importantly, what he says does not embellish, inform or further the progress of the story. He is useless.

Like Jimmy Stewart's character in "Philadelphia Story" the press is mad about Charlie and Yvonne's story. Unlike Stewart's character, though the press is represented here as a nosy entity or monolithic proportions. With the O.J. Simpson scandal fresh on everyone's mind the coverage of the tabloids is nothing new. In "It Could Happen to You," the tabloids act more as documentarians, spreading the word to the population of New York City of the progress and setbacks of Charlie and Yvonne's relationship.

The tabloid covers also serve as a sort of keystone to the audience for what is happening in the film. My advice would have been to include the tabloid covers with their emblazoned announcements such as "Cop Gives Waitress $2M Tip" throughout more of the film and ditch the awkward narration by Angel.

Overlooking the narrative problems, the story and actors are what bring this film, to life.

Charlie Lang is not a stretch for Nicholas Case. Lang is the distillation of many of Cage's former character roles, most notably "Raising Arizona" and "Red Rock West." Here Cage is the pure from of goodness, sincerity and generosity, attributes which were present, but hidden under the tough-guy persons of his other roles.

Lang is not complicated or twisted and has no ill intent. Neither does the change that much during the course of the film. But he is enjoyable to watch. He is enjoyable to watch. he is what we wish everyone could really be like.

Bridget Fonda plays Yvonne with simplicity and grace. She is one of the few actresses today who can play unpretentious, down-to-Earth women without being affected in any way. Fonda was so convincing you almost wonder if she is acting at all.

Her character has her upsets; for one, she is bankrupt and has to fend off the propositions of an unruly husband who has left her. But around Charlie, her personal problems dissolve and her public ones being. In the end, Hollywood, just as we want it to, wins happily.