Loosely based on a true story, the movie poses a lot of familiar questions, among them: Does money corrupt? and How honest are you? Muriel drops a bundle in Tiffany’s, commissions a large, garish portrait of herself and has her breasts enlarged. Charlie buys his partner (Wendell Pierce) season tickets to the Knicks. Yvonne takes over the coffee shop, dispensing free food to the indigent and good cheer to the ailing. Her big indulgence is a jar of macadamia nuts, which she’d rather not share with her lout of an estranged husband, who wants a chunk of her fortune. Altruism unites Charlie and Yvonne, whose idea of fun is giving subway tokens to commuters. They are tabloid darlings, but when the unscrupulous Muriel instigates dramatic divorce proceedings, they become media goats.
Fifty years ago, Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan would have played them. “It Could Happen to You” (changed from “Cop Gives Waitress $2 Million Tip,” the new title surely plays on “It Should Happen to You,” George Cukor’s lovely, little-known 1954 comedy) is shamelessly old-fashioned: it shouldn’t float, but it does. Director Andrew Bergman, a sometime novelist (box) who first made a name co-writing “Blazing Saddles,” and screenwriter Jane Anderson (HBO’s “Positively True Adventures of the Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom”) have just enough edge to stave off sentimentality. Perez, with a whine like a high-speed drill, quickly wears out her welcome, but Fonda and Cage exhibit an endearing lightness. This is a perfect summer souffle.
title: “Psst Want A Good Tip " ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-28” author: “Irving Pierce”
Loosely based on a true story, the movie poses a lot of familiar questions, among them: Does money corrupt? and How honest are you? Muriel drops a bundle in Tiffany’s, commissions a large, garish portrait of herself and has her breasts enlarged. Charlie buys his partner (Wendell Pierce) season tickets to the Knicks. Yvonne takes over the coffee shop, dispensing free food to the indigent and good cheer to the ailing. Her big indulgence is a jar of macadamia nuts, which she’d rather not share with her lout of an estranged husband, who wants a chunk of her fortune. Altruism unites Charlie and Yvonne, whose idea of fun is giving subway tokens to commuters. They are tabloid darlings, but when the unscrupulous Muriel instigates dramatic divorce proceedings, they become media goats.
Fifty years ago, Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan would have played them. “It Could Happen to You” (changed from “Cop Gives Waitress $2 Million Tip,” the new title surely plays on “It Should Happen to You,” George Cukor’s lovely, little-known 1954 comedy) is shamelessly old-fashioned: it shouldn’t float, but it does. Director Andrew Bergman, a sometime novelist (box) who first made a name co-writing “Blazing Saddles,” and screenwriter Jane Anderson (HBO’s “Positively True Adventures of the Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom”) have just enough edge to stave off sentimentality. Perez, with a whine like a high-speed drill, quickly wears out her welcome, but Fonda and Cage exhibit an endearing lightness. This is a perfect summer souffle.
