Mickey les yeux bleus

Just happened to rent this one on a whim, mainly due to the cast - Hugh Grant and James Caan - and was surprised to find a much better than average comedy. When the world of a sophisticated English-born art auctioneer in a Tony Manhattan auction house collides with the world of the New York mob, one expects a universe of comic opportunities, and the movie pays off in spades. James Caan is becoming one of those rare actors who is as adept at comedy as at heavier roles. The script is intelligently funny, and the movie is loaded with riotously incongruous situations. The scene where Caan attempts to teach the debonair Hugh Grant how to say "fuggedaboutit" in a hood's accent is alone worth the price of the movie. An overlooked delight.

Within this film, there is a restaurant scene, which in my opinion is without doubt one of the funniest scenes of cinema. I have never before laughed out loud so much at a seventy/eighty second stretch of film. Although this one scene steals the film for me every time I watch it, the entire film is filled with gags that really appeal. I have to confess that the plot is entirely clichéd and pointless, but I find that it is a spiritual successor to the black, white and golden age of comedy epitomised by Laurel and Hardy et al. in terms of the facial comedy especially, with James Caan and Hugh Grant excelling in their close up work. If you are looking at this review as an indicator of whether you should watch this film or not, I urge you to ignore the measly mark of 5.7 and take a punt on it. It obviously doesn't appeal to everyone, but if it does appeal to you, you will absolutely love it.....

The previews that I saw for this movie promised it to be a very funny movie...and for the most part it was but it could have been better.

The movie is about a conservative British fellow (Hugh Grant) that runs an auction house in New York. He decides to propose to his girlfriend (Jeanne Tripplehorn) but she has reservations about marriage as her father has connections to the mafia. In her opinion, this marriage will not work as Grant's character will invariably be sucked into the organized crime life. He assures her that he won't and they decide to go ahead with the marriage. As you guessed it, Grant does become entangled and what ensues is a humorous "fish-out-of-water" comedy as Grant tries to get himself out of a mess.

For the most part, the characters were well played. Hugh Grant does a good job, albiet familiar to other characters that he's played recently (and probably not too unlike his real self) but it was nonetheless well played. Most of the humor revolves around his character and his ability to deliver the lines and timing is very well done. The same cannot be said for Jeanne Tripplehorn's character. She seemed to overact some scenes and others it seemed that she wasn't quite sure how to portray the character. At times, it almost made me feel uncomfortable trying to watch her find her role. James Caan did a very good job of playing the father and in some cases, he stole some scenes. The rest of the actors played their roles fairly well although many of these actors have been typecast as the mafia type character.

Although the movie was fairly amusing, there were places that it seemed to drag a little bit. A sign of a good movie for me is how much my mind wanders and this did happen in some places. In my opinion it could have been even funnier but in general it was pretty good. Overall, I found it to be entertaining and genuinely funny...7/10.

The whole idea of the movie is pretty creative, but near the end of the movie, the story got a little predictable (that's all I'll say about the plot... so no I'm not spoiling anything.)

However, I laughed to the point I was literally in pain. A lot of pain. Especially during "the restaurant scene". Even after the movie I was still giddy, and I started laughing hysterically in the parking lot of the movie theater. An aftershock I guess?

If you're looking for a good laugh you should go see it. If you're looking for a strong plot, save your time and money.

This was an entertaining comedy, similar to several other films I've seen in which an innocent-appearing nice guy gets caught up in the middle of a mob family. (i.e. Matthew Broderick in "The Freshman.")

In this film, it's Hugh Grant who winds up in mobster James Caan's clan. The latter isn't known for his comedy but he's good at it. Sometimes just the facial expressions on Caan's face brought out big laughs with me.

Joe Viterelli is perfect for any Mafia-type story, as is Burt Young. It was a little strange, though, to see Young look like such a shriveled up old man. Jeanne Tripplehorn provides the romantic interest in here.

My only complaints were too much usage of God's name in vain, especially for a comedy, and the typical on again-off again marriage plans you've seen so many times in movies for many decades. Overall, however, a good lighthearted comedy that should please a lot of people.