Item: Mickey Blue Eyes
Rating: 6
Author: JoBlo

Mickey Blue Eyes

By JoBlo

August 22nd 1999, 12:00am

	Review Date: Director: Kelly Makin Writer: Adam Sheinman, Robert Kuhn Producers: Elizabeth Hurley, C. Mulvehill Actors: Hugh Grant as Michael, James Caan as Frank, Jeanne Tripplehorn as Gina

Plot:

An English auctioneer proposes to his Italian-American girlfriend, only to find out that her family is heavily involved in the mafia. Despite her reservations, he convinces her that he will not allow himself to get involved with their illegal activities, but slowly finds himself drowning into their seedy underworld.

Critique:

Likeable comedy felt like a pretty good video rental idea, but lacks the added oomph to highly recommend on the big screen. This film has the right look, great music, and all the usual suspects from all the other mob movies, but didn’t consistently offer a rat-tat-tat of laughs or a genuinely believable romance. There were however several scattered funny moments, a superb performance from Burt Young as the mob boss (This dude gave me the chills just lookin’ at him!), and an enjoyable score which kept all of the proceedings on an upbeat level all the whole way through. Caan was surprisingly underused in my opinion, while Grant tacked in another decent job as the comic lead, with plenty of endearingly goofy moments, alongside his ever-present puppy-dog look, which apparently, most folks seem to like?

The story itself was ‘sarright, but I didn’t personally buy into all of the goings-on during the film’s finale, with certain people suddenly shifting loyalties like nobody’s business. I mean, it was like…foggetaboutitt! Small plot holes aside, most of the film was enjoyable enough to watch, due to the interesting premise, but a classic romantic comedy, or mob comedy for that matter, it is not. Don’t expect to find the same level of humor as in ANALYZE THIS (8/10) because that film’s comedy was an uzi compared to this movie’s shotgun. But if you really like any of the principals in this one, love catchy Italian music, don’t mind a reasonably light romance, and don’t have a problem with Hugh Grant’s moping, then by all means, see this movie. Either way, my recommendation of this film ranks higher on a video level, than an actual pay-full-price cinematic release. Badda-bing…badda-boom!!