Once upon a time in America, there existed an immense, family-style organization where loyalty and unity were strong and repercussions swift for those who ran afoul of it. This organization influenced the business and entertainment world as much as it did politics and helped turn a tiny desert town into a thriving metropolis destined for tourists and those with money burning holes in their pockets.
The organization, of course, was the mafia and despite its members' criminal behavior, it and they became romanticized by a public that had similar notions about Old West gunslingers and 1920s era bank robbers. The entertainment industry didn't exactly let that escape their attention, and many books, TV shows and big-screen movies helped perpetuate those figures and the mob. The best known was obviously "The Godfather" series that featured the likes of Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and James Caan.
Yet with old age, eventual arrests and corporate America taking over Las Vegas, the mob began declining over the years in numbers, influence and in the public's romanticized eye. Just recently, however, there's been a resurgence of mob-related material, including 1998's mob spoof, "Mafia!" and 1999's surprise hit, "Analyze This" where occasional Mafioso portrayer De Niro put on a comic spin on the term "wise guy."
With the release of "Mickey Blue Eyes," it's James Caan's turn to take the mob character for a ride in this amusing and often hilarious tale of an Englishman who unintentionally gets caught up with the mob. Much as was the case with Billy Crystal's character in "Analyze This," the humor of the situation arises from an everyday "normal" person who finds himself dealing with organized crime.
Whereas Crystal did his usual annoyed/neurotic shtick as it pertained to the related plot, actor Hugh Grant ("Notting Hill," "Four Weddings and a Funeral") plays his trademark, proper romantic comedy character and the effect is well-suited for this premise.
Not only does it provide for some "fish out of water" scenarios, but it also allows for humor to stem from the contrast between Grant's refined English gentlemanly behavior and appearance, and the more "manly" and tough Italian American mobster characters. The highlight of that is when Caan tries to downgrade Grant's English accent so that he can sound like a mobster and say things like "Fuhgeddaboutit" (forget about it) and "Get the 'hail' out of here."
Although the film clearly doesn't contain what most would consider sophisticated comedy, its script -- as penned by Adam Scheinman ("Little Big League") and Robert Kuhn ("The Cure") -- is smartly written, features a pleasing range of comedic and sometimes hilarious material, and successfully sets up elements that pay off, or are played off, later in the story.
Most successful is a series of set pieces that range from character driven comedy to slapstick-style humor. Whether it's a scene where an older Chinese restaurant owner insists that Gina open her fortune cookie to find a marriage proposal, one where Michael does an impromptu striptease-like dance to prevent Gina from seeing some mob artwork in his office, or another where he politely tries to explain his views on violence without offending and/or possibly angering the mob boss, the film has plenty of funny material likely to amuse and please viewers.
Like many such films and especially spoofs, however, the story here starts to run out of gas and comedic material as it sets up the groundwork for the big finale. Although the humor and the viewer's reaction greatly subside during this time, the dry spell certainly doesn't ruin the film. That's mostly due to the winning performances from the charming cast.
While some worried about and others celebrated the apparent demise of Hugh Grant's career after his three-year layoff from moviemaking, his appearance in "Notting Hill" and now this film should reestablish his major star status. Like his "Hill" costar, Julia Roberts, Grant is best at playing romantic comedy characters (their apparent destinies). Here, he creates another fun character the viewer immediately adores, and his bewildered reactions to his life unraveling are a hoot to watch.
Equally as fun is James Caan ("Honeymoon in Vegas," "Misery") as the mobster and future father-in-law. Although he doesn't take the mob caricature as far as De Niro did in "Analyze This," he still delivers a fun performance as the comic, yet still potentially menacing Mafioso. Squeezed between the two is Jeanne Tripplehorn ("The Firm," "Basic Instinct") as the reluctant fiancé. While she isn't given the best comedic material to work with, she does a decent job with what's there.
Supporting performances, ranging from Burt Young (best known as Paulie in the "Rocky" films) as the head of the mob family to James Fox ("Patriot Games," "Remains of the Day") as Michael's bemused, English boss, are all good, while perennial tough guy actor, Joe Viterelli ("Analyze This," "Eraser") makes his obligatory appearance in this mob film.
Overall, the film is a fun and funny diversion and Canadian director Kelly Makin ("The Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy") keeps things moving at a constant and pleasing clip. Although some running gags are abandoned too soon (Caan trying to get a guy to crack by having him standing in the freezer and then running on a treadmill -- "Now I have to put you on mountain climb"), for the most part the dialogue's smart and inspired, the performances are just right, and the jokes are plentiful and varied (with one of the best being Michael finding a lone, used match next to a matchbook from a rival auction house that just had a little run in with a fire). I highly enjoyed this film and imagine most viewers will as well.
As far as the disc itself, both the visual and aural elements are quite good. Meanwhile, the informative running audio commentary by the film's director makes up for the otherwise lackluster supplemental materials that are also included on the disc.
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