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It Could Happen to You

It Could Happen to You (1994)

A cop. A waitress. A lottery ticket.

Release:1994
Runtime:1h 41m
Country:United States
Director:Andrew Bergman
Language:English

Genre

ComedyDramaRomance
See the best comedy movies →

Keywords

New York CityWaitressCourt CaseGreedDinerBased On True StoryCopFame
iRank67

It Could Happen to You rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb6.4/10· 47K votes
Rotten Tomatoes75%
Metacritic64%
TMDb6.724/10· 931 votes

With 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 6.4/10 on IMDb and 64/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been positive.

About It Could Happen to You

Charlie Lang is a simple, kindhearted New York City cop. When he realizes he has no money to tip waitress Yvonne Biasi, Lang offers her half the winnings of his lottery ticket. Amazingly, the ticket happens to be a winner, in the sum of $4 million. True to his word, Lang proceeds to share the prize money with Biasi, which infuriates his greedy wife, Muriel. Not content with the arrangement, Muriel begins scheming to take all the money.

Cast of It Could Happen to You

  • Nicolas Cage

    Nicolas Cage

    as Charlie Lang

  • Bridget Fonda

    Bridget Fonda

    as Yvonne Biasi

  • Rosie Perez

    Rosie Perez

    as Muriel Lang

  • Wendell Pierce

    Wendell Pierce

    as Bo Williams

  • Isaac Hayes

    Isaac Hayes

    as Angel Dupree

  • Víctor Rojas

    Víctor Rojas

    as Jesu

  • Seymour Cassel

    Seymour Cassel

    as Jack Gross

  • Stanley Tucci

    Stanley Tucci

    as Eddie Biasi

  • J.E. Freeman

    J.E. Freeman

    as Sal Bontempo

  • Red Buttons

    Red Buttons

    as Walter Zakuto

  • Richard Jenkins

    Richard Jenkins

    as C. Vernon Hale

  • Robert Dorfman

    Robert Dorfman

    as Walter

It Could Happen to You facts

Budget
$20M
Box office
$37.9M

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026MethodologyData sources

Audience opinions

What the audience liked

  • •True story adaptation provides heartwarming feel-good narrative structure
  • •Comedy-drama balance maintains optimistic tone throughout film
  • •Court case finale delivers satisfying resolution to lottery premise

What the audience disliked

  • •Comforting tone occasionally borders on saccharine sentimentality
  • •Fame consequences subplot remains underdeveloped in narrative focus

Trailer

Where to watch It Could Happen to You(US)

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