Angela de Marco is a decent, upstanding woman, living on Long Island, and trying raise her only son Joey to be a decent, upstanding person. She also happens to be married to a mafia hit man.
When her husband is killed she decides to make a new life for herself and her son. She donates all of her (mostly hot) possessions to charity, moves to a tiny rundown apartment in the east village, and starts looking for a job. Unfortunately Angela’s past doesn’t want to let go of her as easily. She is tracked down by both her husband’s overly amorous former boss (and his killer), Tony ‘The Tiger’ Russo, the head of the crime family, and Tony’s jealous, irrational wife Connie.

The Feds are already onto Tony and they’re convinced that he and Angela are in cahoots. They send in two undercover agents to watch her, Ed Benitez and Mike Downey, and the two set up a stakeout in another apartment in Angela’s building to keep an eye on her. Angela and Mike soon bump into each other in the elevator, and she asks him out the next time she sees him. Mike agrees, convinced he’s going to get lucky, but not in the way that Angela hopes.

Yet the date turns out very differently than what Mike expects. It is clear that Angela is not even remotely interested in Tony, or anyone or anything from her past. When Connie barges in uninvited, convinced her husband is shacking up with Angela, Mike finally sees the real Angie, not the conniving myth he thinks he’s been investigating. And confronted with the obvious despair she feels at being forever trapped by her old life, Mike comforts her in a way that completely wins us over and has us rooting for these two for the rest of the movie.

Yet when we really stopped to analyze them later we wondered – would they really make it? They come from extremely different places and upbringings – he looks about as corn-fed middle America as you can get, and she’s a New York Italian princess. What happens when he brings her home for dinner with his God-fearing, church-going parents and they find out she was married to a mafia hit man? Who was killed by another mafia hit man?

And that’s not their only problem. He lied to her, and it was a pretty big lie. “I told you I was working late but I really stopped off at a bar to watch the game with some friends” – that’s a small lie. “I pretended I was just a nice working class guy that lives in your building but I’m actually an undercover FBI agent that’s been stalking you and plans to throw you in jail and deport your employer unless you risk your life helping us catch an organized crime boss” – well that’s a little tougher to swallow. And after all the years she spent with her lying, cheating, thieving husband, Angela is probably not anxious to be burned twice. She says she’s willing to give Mike a second chance – but is she really?

Nevertheless we just can’t forget that tender scene in her apartment, and we can’t deny that there is deep caring and attraction on both sides. Big lie aside, Mike is a very different animal than the one she was previously with. Underneath it all he does seem genuine and trustworthy, and we believe he loves and accepts Angela for who she is. He’d no doubt make a doting husband to her and a good father to Joey. OK so technically he’s a hit man too, but he’s on our side. Perhaps that will be enough to help them overcome their surface differences.

Once his parents are dead. (Hmmm…maybe a hit man could be handy after all…)

The Movie: Working Girl

Reel Thing Rating: 1 out of 5 Reels
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We have to confess – we love this movie.  It’s one of our favorites, and the only one in which Melanie Griffith is tolerable.  There are so many great performances, in particular from Sigourney Weaver as Katherine Parker, who steals the show.

But cute as they are onscreen we have to question the chances of the relationship between Tess and Jack.  It’s true – Tess cleans up nice.  Jack is clearly drawn to each other and there is some great sexual chemistry there. And Jack is definitely a big step up, not just financially and socially but personally and emotionally, from her boyfriend Nick. But the fact is that few people truly leave their roots behind and we find it hard to picture Jack hanging with the in-laws on Staten Island every Thanksgiving.  The more likely story would be that Jack does Tess on the down low for a year and then settles down for a life of moneyed misery with Katherine.

The Movie: It’s Complicated

Reel Thing Rating: Jane and Jake, 2 out of 5 reels.
Reel Thing Rating: Jane and Adam, 3 out of 5 reels.
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Trying to figure out who’s the Reel Thing here is as the title suggests: complicated. Ten years ago, Jake and Jane Adler got divorced after Jake’s affair with a younger woman, whom he subsequently married. At their son’s graduation in New York, Jake and Jane hook up, and despite the fact that Jane declares it the worst mistake two people could possibly make, they continue the affair after they return home.

Meanwhile, Jane is just starting the long dreamed-of renovation of her house, and Adam, her architect, has his eye on her. After several meetings to talk business, she finally realizes that Adam would like to take things in a more romantic direction. Here seems like the perfect antidote to the craziness with Jake, and the two begin to date.

So which couple is the Reel Thing?

In some ways, we could see Jake and Jane successfully rekindling their relationship. They know each other so well, share so much history, and fall back into being together effortlessly. At the same time, they’ve both grown wiser since their marriage failed. (Or at least, Jane has. The verdict is still out on Jake.) Jane’s new confidence brings a spark to their dynamic that’s exciting to them both. Plus, for Jane, there’s the undeniable thrill of snatching her husband back from the woman who stole him from her.

On the other hand, the fact that they share so much history could also stand in their way. Jake has now cheated on two wives, and serial philandering tends to be an untreatable condition. Jake seems to stray when the going gets rough at home, and we wonder if he’d even be pursuing Jane if things were happier with his current wife. But even if Jake were truly committed to Jane for life, is it possible to trust someone again when they’ve betrayed you so badly? Not to mention that there are the kids to consider. The divorce was traumatic for them and so is their parents’ affair.

As for Adam, he and Jane have an easy, comfortable connection. They like each other, have fun together, and make each other laugh. We don’t sense any excess of passion, but compared to the lusty antics between Jane and Jake, that seems more refreshingly adult and sane than disappointing. With Adam, Jane has a new beginning, and in the end, isn’t it better to go forward than to go back?

So we give the edge to Adam, but we kind of doubt either relationship is for keeps. Jane has arrived at a point where her life is complete whether or not she has a man. She has good friends, does work she loves, enjoys a close relationship with her grown-up children, and is just plain comfortable in her skin. It’s obvious that all this wisdom is hard-won, and we’re not sure how many compromises Jane will be willing to make to be in a relationship. We think it’s just possible that Jane’s Reel Thing is her independence.