So Muriel is a beautician. Her husband flirts with a waitress because he can't pay his coffee bill (he is a cop) and offers her half of his lottery ticket if he wins.

Poor Muriel, her luck is in and they win 4 million, her husband gives the waitress half without telling her. He continues to make expensive financial decisions without speaking to his wife thus ruining their marriage. It's OK though because he has the waitress as a back up.

Muriel grows a pair and demands her portion of the money, he refuses and she has to take him to court. She gets her money but that's OK because her ex isn't interested in money, or so we thought. The second the waitress finds out Nick cage is poor again she runs away for a few days. It takes him 3 days to track her down (at her own cafe).

The town takes pity on him and send him money via post so the waitress gets to own the cafe.

Finally Nick Cage and the waitress decide to fritter the money away that the city gave them by hiring an expensive hot air balloon and littering the city with pink paper hearts (probably incuring a fine in the process).

It could happen to you is a well made film about a police officer and his wife and how they won the lottery. BUT.... what his wife (Rosie Perez) doesn't know is that he had promised about half of his winnings to this waitress (Bridget Fonda) at a diner when he didn't have a tip to give her. This waitress had just very recently filed for bankruptcy and was struggling to get up enough money to divorce her jackass of a husband (Stanley Tucci). The movie has an interesting plot to it which I just explained, and that's what originally interested me in watching it. It's also very well acted and I thought the casting choices were great. First of all, Rosie Perez plays her role immensely well! I loved her as the b****y money obsessed wife of Nicholas cage. She has some really funny lines and some great scenes where her true colors as a character shine through. Nicholas Cage is good as the lead character. He is honest, kind hearted, and an all around decent guy who's just trying to do the right thing. And then we have Bridget Fonda. I really liked her as the waitress who Cage awards half his lottery winnings to. She's sweet, bubbly, but not bubbly in a brainless and stupid way, intelligent, and a character with a good bit of depth. The script had good humor, romance, and some warm hearted moments. 7/10 for it could happen to you.

It Could Happen to You is based on real life events, although the ending of the movie is different to the real life event, and the movie mentions what happened to the real people in the end credits.

I especially loved the ending, where an undercover newspaper photographer is helped out by Charlie Lang (Nicolas Cage, this was 20 or so years before his lead role in Left Behind) and Bridget Fonda (Single White Female) who console each other, slow dancing, as they ponder penniless life together. It's good to see there was no racial element in that scene given it's in New York if you know what I mean.

Kay Tong Lim also deserves special recognition of his role in this fine and charming movie.