To contrast with the sweetness, though with a bit of cynical edge, of Charlie and Yvonne, is Charlie's wife Muriel, obnoxiously and effectively played by Rosie Perez. Muriel is out for Muriel, and wants to get what she sees as hers, regardless of whatever promise Charlie may have made to Yvonne.

We see Charlie conflicted as to what to do at first. After all, Charlie certainly did not expect to win several million dollars on that lottery ticket. However, Charlie wants to do the right thing, and he does. As Charlie follows his heart, and what he believes is right, Charlie comes to realize that Yvonne has morals and a style more like his own, and Muriel is greedy and conniving and just not a very nice person. While I was initially conflicted by Charlie's marriage to Muriel, because I believe strongly in marriage, there came a point where I just couldn't stand Muriel any more, and no belief in marriage would have made me stay with her.

This story is a bit of a caricature and more than a bit trite, but somehow I wanted this variation on the Cinderella theme to work out and I had to follow it to the end. I wanted the movie to work out because Yvonne was just a wonderfully nice person and she deserved a better life, and I decided that no matter what Muriel and Charlie were not going to work out. I admit that I did come to the point where I wanted Charlie and Yvonne to get together, but I was not sure of exactly how to work that out without complications.

In a way this movie is a bit of a guilty pleasure, because it does have a fair amount of predictability, though not all the details are predictable. However, I like to watch happy ending movies sometimes, and this one has a wonderfully happy ending. This movie works because of the great chemistry between Bridget Fonda and Nicholas Cage. The combination of their character's believability, the sweet story, and the happy ending, just make this a fun movie to watch. Just keep your analysis of the story to a minimum; it is only a movie, after all.