Married To The Mob (1988)

After her philandering mobster husband (Alec Baldwin) is killed by the mob boss (Dean Stockwell), his widow (Michelle Pfeiffer) and 7 year old son (Anthony J. Nici) move away to start a new life. But both the mob boss, who has designs on her, and the FBI won't let her be! This spirited comedy directed by Jonathan Demme is hard to resist. Since it is a comedy, one can forgive some of the more exaggerated caricatures and stereotypes and I'm not just talking Italian-Americans, its portrayal of the FBI is pretty ludicrous too. With the exception of the vanilla Matthew Modine, the acting keeps the movie afloat and spinning. The waspish Pfeiffer does a good job of impersonating an Italian mob wife but it's Dean Stockwell (in an Oscar nominated performance) and Mercedes Ruehl as his wife that elevate the movie from low comedy to an almost farcical level. David Byrne of Talking Heads did the underscore. With Joan Cusack, Oliver Platt, Nancy Travis, Chris Isaak and Paul Lazar.