It Could Happen to You (1994)
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A cash-strapped police officer and a struggling waitress find their lives transformed after a chance lottery win leads them to share the fortune.
The story
In a plot inspired by a real-life news story, a New York Police Department officer who is short on cash and unable to tip his waitress half-jokingly offers to share his winnings if he happens to win the lottery. The officer, Charlie, is a kind man whose wife, Muriel, is materialistic and greedy. The waitress, Yvonne, is newly bankrupt after her estranged husband spent her money. When Charlie wins a $4 million share of a lottery prize, he honors his offer to share the winnings with Yvonne, leading to a complicated dynamic between the two as they navigate their new wealth and the fallout in their personal lives.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After winning a $4 million lottery prize, Charlie Lang shares the winnings with his waitress, Yvonne Biasi. While Yvonne uses her share to buy the diner and establish a community table for those in need, Charlie faces a strained marriage with his materialistic wife, Muriel. Following a series of events including a physical altercation with robbers and a legal battle over the winnings, Charlie and Yvonne find themselves alone together. Despite Yvonne's initial hesitation due to guilt over the impact on Charlie's marriage, the two realize they are in love. They eventually marry and move forward together, while Muriel's attempt to marry a wealthy man ends in disaster when he turns out to be a con artist. The film concludes with the couple receiving a large sum of money from the public in response to a news report by a photojournalist, and they eventually marry and go on a honeymoon.
- First release year
- 1994
- Runtime (minutes)
- 101
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Andrew Bergman
- Writers
- Jane Anderson · writer
- Cast and characters
- Nicolas Cage · Charlie Lang; Bridget Fonda · Yvonne Biasi; Isaac Hayes · Angel Dupree
- Genres
- romantic comedy-drama; comedy-drama
- Themes
- Generosity; Materialism vs. Altruism; Luck
- Tone and mood
- Romantic; Heartwarming
- Premise and plot tags
- Lottery Win; Based on True Events; Romance
- Source material / true-story basis
- Real-life news story
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was noted for its popularity on home video.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 73% · scale: percentage · review count: 37
- Production trivia
- The film was titled 'Cop Gives Waitress Million Dollar Tip' during production.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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