Bridget Fonda, Emily Deschanel, Isaac Hayes

Inspired by an actual incident, this unassuming, wonderfully good-natured romantic comedy tells the story of a New York City street cop named Charlie (Nicolas Cage) who makes a promise to a coffee-sho...( read more  read more... )p waitress named Yvonne (Bridget Fonda) that will change both their lives. One day after coffee, Charlie is embarrassed to discover he doesn't have money for a tip, so he tells Yvonne that he'll share half of his winnings if the lottery ticket he's holding comes up a winner. Sure enough, he wins the jackpot--a whopping $4 million payoff--and Charlie's wife, Muriel (Rosie Perez), goes ballistic when he tells her about his deal with Yvonne. From this point, It Could Happen to You follows Charlie's dilemma as he is forced to decide the proper course of action, and director Andrew Bergman smoothly incorporates a gentle love story into this amusing crisis of conscience. Fonda and Cage have an easygoing chemistry that adds a pleasant touch to the movie's fairy-tale plot, and the story's kindhearted sentiment is never so thick that it becomes sticky-sweet or artificial. As feel-good comedies go, this one's a class act. --Jeff Shannon

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54% liked it

17,918 ratings

PG, 101 min.

Directed by: Andrew Bergman

Release Date: July 29, 1994

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DVD Release Date: October 30, 2001

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Stats: 1,061 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,061)


  • September 23, 2009
    A sweet film but, my God, anything over five minutes of Rosie Perez screen time is pushing it!
  • October 21, 2008
    i was pissed when i realized it couldnt really happen to me
  • June 23, 2008
    Another crappy fast food cheseburger of a movie from hollywood. Lots of mayo and pickles, no lettuce or tomatoes.
  • June 11, 2008
    Sweet. One of the better Nicolas Cage=romantic-lead movies out there.
  • October 1, 2007
    okay
  • November 6, 2009
    "A promise is a promise."

    A sweet and uplifting film made to make you feel all warm and fuzzy. Which it does. Loved Nic Cage and Bridget Fonda together, and was surprised at the twist at the end too. Lovely film which, if you let it, could restore your faith in humanity!
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  • October 25, 2009
    An average film

    contains spoilers!
    This tells a story of two police men who go to this Cafe the woman in the cafe is quite rude because she was having a bad day.
    The Police ordered stuff but they had been called to attend another place so they had to leave the woman was anno...( read more)yed but they suggested that they would come back tomorrow to sort it out and she argreed in the end.

    The police came back tomorrow like they said one of the police won the lottery so he offered to give some to the lady in the Cafe the lady was happy and eventually took the money.

    In the end they got married but they found out that she didn't get divorced first so at first people were annoyed with her but the police and her had an happy life together.

    And thats what the story was about

    This movie had a slow start with not much happening the start of it was slow and a bit boring but then afterwards it speeded up a bit and the story wasn't too bad about an average story really.

    The acting was pretty strong just there was one actress that I found weak and annoying maybe the acting could of been improved by a slight.

    The conversations in parts could of been speeded up too mostly at the begining.

    This film was an average film so its up to you if you would like to check this film out.

    The improvements for this film are.

    1.Better story at the begining
    2.Faster story
    3.Stronger acting
    4.Faster conversations
    5.A bit more of a ending to the film.
  • October 22, 2009
    Jag älskar den här filmen! Den sprider så mycket kärlek och glädje!
  • August 24, 2009
    This is a charming movie, a modern-day fairy tale if you will. It would be difficult for anyone to watch this film, IMHO, and not truly enjoy it. Plz see it.
  • August 12, 2009
    very nice family movie

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  • 1HotGrandma
    August 1, 2007
    A SIMPLE UPLIFTING FEEL GOOD MOVIE. AND OF COURSE GOTTA LOVE NICHOLAS CAGE. ACTUALLY SAW THIS TWICE, AND WAS JUST AS GOOD IF NOT BETTER THE SECOND TIME VIEWING.

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It Could Happen to You Trivia


  • What film has this tag line: A cop,a waitress, a lottery ticket?  Answer »
  • Who played the Cop in "It Could Happen to You"?  Answer »
  • Who is Nicolas Cage's leading lady in the movie "If it could happen to you"?  Answer »
  • In "It Could Happen to You" who played the waitress who was tipped 2 million dollars?  Answer »

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