“Jonathan Demme is the American cinema’s king of amusing artifacts: blinding bric-a-brac, the junkiest of jewelry, costumes so frightening they take your breath away. Mr. Demme may joke, but he’s also capable of suggesting that the very fabric of American life may be woven of such things, and that it takes a merry and adventurous spirit to make the most of them. In addition, Mr. Demme has an unusually fine ear for musical novelty, and the sounds that waft through his films heighten the visual impression of pure, freewheeling vitality. If making these films is half as much fun as watching them, Mr. Demme must be a happy man.” NYT Critic’s Pick – Janet Maslin, The New York Times.

Getting close to the edge lately? Bumping into misfits, weirdos, the occasional psychopath? If so, you may be a character in a Jonathan Demme fantasy. But if you’re watching Demme’s pictures from a safe distance — and now it’s the delicious Mafia sendup “Married to the Mob” — you’ll thoroughly enjoy the out-of-kilter existence. After establishing an appealing sense of anarchy in his 1986 “Something Wild,” Demme has kept the oddballs rolling. As an almost-mad housewife in Mafia Heights, Long Island, Michelle Pfeiffer is delicately riotous. Dean Stockwell, as the dangerous, lusty Tony “The Tiger” Russo, pumps his character-acting for all it’s worth. And the avian-featured Matthew Modine puts an endearing twitch into Mike Downey, the FBI agent who’s eavesdropping on Tony and associates.  – Desson Howe, Washington Post

“Demme isn’t aghast at kitsch, or even superior to it; actually, he’s its purely loving archivist and he matches Kristi Zea’s zestful production designs, setup for setup, with song after song (the contribution of Gary Goetzman and Sharon Boyle), from an original score by longtime collaborator David Byrne.” Sheia Benson, Los Angeles Times

“High-spirited and hilarious, Mob supplies that special kick you get from movie comedy when laughter bubbles over into bliss.” – Peter Travers, People

It’s easy to see why the idiosyncratic Demme, chronicler of postmodern Americana, was attracted to this offbeat social satire by Barry Strugatz and Mark R. Burns. The notion of a station wagon Mafia brings out the nimble farceur in Demme, not to mention the interior decorator. He’s set the movie in fantasy locations, like the Fontainebleu bridal suite and the Chickin’ Lickin’ eatery. And Russo relaxes at a spaghetti restaurant with a Camelot decor and a piano bar. “Hey, it’s Tony the Tiger, the paisano the sun always shines on-a,” sings the tunesmith. There’s also reggae, Italian pop and a musical score by David Byrne of Demme’s documentary “Stop Making Sense.” – Rita Kempley, Washington Post