With all the lights on

Before Mr. & Mrs. Smith, there was Prizzi's Honor. The premise is basically the same... Boy meets girl, boy marries girl, boy and girl find out that they married hitmen, boy and girl are hired to kill each other. It's a reasonable dark twist to the modern romantic comedy. While both Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner do a decent job as the film's star-crossed lovers, Angelica Huston steels every scene she's in as Maerose Prizzi, the disowned granddaughter of mob boss Don Corrado Prizzi.

As a young woman, Maerose lived a fantasy lifestyle. Her family was rich and powerful. She never had to go without anything. Naturally, she fell in love with Charley Partanna(Nicholson), a childhood friend and current hit man for her family. Unfortunately, jealousy not only destroyed the couple, but destroyed Maerose's relationship with her family. Years later, when she discovers that Charley has fallen in love with another woman, she has the opportunity to take her revenge. Maerose sets the wheels in motion that makes Charley have to choose between his family and the family, culminating in a tragic end for everyone but Maerose.

I found this film rather schizophrenic. It encompassed many genres, but never really fully committed to any of them. It was too slow to be a dark comedy and unplausable as a romance. However, it was too satirical and romantic to be considered a mob film either.