Angie

Angie (Davis) is a working-class Italian from Bensonhurst, New York, who idolises her 'free-spirited' mother whom she hasn't seen since she was three, loves her devoted father (Bosco), and loathes her fussy stepmother (O'Hara). At first the only sign that she feels constricted by plumber boyfriend Vinnie (Gandolfini) is her sudden interest in art; then she discovers she's pregnant, goes to a gallery, and picks up Irish chancer Noel (Rea). Even her best friend Tina (Turturro) thinks she's crazy when she drops Vinnie, but her affair with Noel is a fairy-tale romance - until unforeseen crises force her to reassess her life. For the first hour, this adaptation of Avra Wing's novel delivers: you're carried along by the quirky romance, sharp dialogue, and the jokes about gynaecology and vibrators. But then, in the last half hour, there's a change of direction and events take an unpersuasive turn towards tragedy - a great pity, since, as a spirited comedy, the film had a lot going for it.