Mr. Wonderful (1993)

In an attempt to end alimony payments, a working class man tries to set up his ex wife with potential husbands.

Director:

Anthony Minghella

Writers:

Amy Schor Ferris (as Amy Schor), Vicki Polon

Stars:

Matt Dillon, Annabella Sciorra, Mary-Louise Parker

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Dillon	...	Gus
Annabella Sciorra	...	Leonora
Mary-Louise Parker	...	Rita
William Hurt	...	Tom
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Dominic
David Barry Gray	...	Pope
Dan Hedaya	...	Harvey
Bruce Kirby	...	Dante
Luis Guzmán	...	Juice
Jessica Harper	...	Funny Face
Joanna Merlin	...	Loretta
Jennifer Alonzi	...	Woman on Train
Frank E. Smurlo Jr.	...	Man on Train
Bruce Altman	...	Mr. Wonderful
Peter Appel	...	Harry

Storyline

Electrician Gus gets the chance to fulfill a childhood dream by buying an old bowling-alley with some of his friends. Unfortunately, due to the alimony payments he has to make to his ex-wife Leonora, the bank refuses to loan him the down payment. Knowing that when she marries again she loses her alimony rights, Gus tries to speed things up by bringing Leonora together with all the potential husbands he can find. Although this approach isn't very successful, it awakens feelings in both of them they didn't know they still had.

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Plot Keywords:

hospital | dream | kiss | elevator | bare chested male | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes love is a stranger. And sometimes it's someone you've known all your life.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some language and sensuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Con quién caso a mi mujer

Filming Locations:

19 Minetta Street, New York, NY 10012, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$3,125,424

Company Credits

Production Co:

Night Life Inc., The Samuel Goldwyn Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Annabella Sciorra would go on to play James Gandolfini's love interest for 7 episodes on The Sopranos (1999).

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Goofs

The bright-sparking flash that represents electrical-arcing only occurs after Gus completely removes the fuse; there would only be a spark during the actual "removal moment", while the fuse was in the act of breaking the electrical circuit.

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Quotes

Leonora: [in disgusted sarcastic response to Gus's complaining that she appears to have "traded down" by divorcing him and hooking up with her current romantic interest whom Gus views as just a high-class dandy and clueless dude who's probably incapable of even simple tasks; Gus opines that the guy "likely doesn't even know how to change a fuse"] Who really cares whether or not you can change a fuse, if the WIRES aren't even HOOKED UP INSIDE YOUR HEAD?

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: The Beverly Hillbillies/Ruby in Paradise/The Nightmare Before Christmas/Fearless/Mr. Wonderful (1993)

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Soundtracks

Mr. Wonderful
Music by Jerry Bock & George David Weiss
Lyrics by George David Weiss & Lawrence Holofcener
Published by Abilene Music, lley Music Corp.
Jerry Bock Enterprises, Quartet Music, Inc.
Range Road Music, Inc. and Trio Muci Co. Inc.

User Reviews

guy loses girl, guy tries to find another guy for girl

I expected this movie to bore me within the first five minutes, but I had an afternoon to kill and there was a rerun of a home improvement show I could watch. I got a pleasant surprise and never did check into ways to repaint the kitchen. I found the plot to be original because of Dillon's machinations to get another guy the girl. He's not much of a matchmaker, but he seems to sincerely want hi ex-wife to be happy. The end was predictable, but Sciorra and Dillon are convincing as angry ex- spouses who have gone in different directions and the numerous character actors fill in the occasional boring spots, especially Dan Hedeya - I like anything he does though, so I am biased.