Mickey Blue Eyes

Mickey Blue Eyes
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kelly Makin
Written by	Adam Scheinman Robert Kuhn
Produced by	Elizabeth Hurley Charles Mulvehill
Starring	Hugh Grant James Caan Jeanne Tripplehorn Burt Young James Fox Joe Viterelli
Cinematography	Donald E. Thorin
Edited by	David Freeman
Music by	Basil Poledouris
Production companies	Castle Rock Entertainment Simian Films [1]
Distributed by	Warner Bros. (select territories) Universal Pictures International (international)
Release date	August 20, 1999 (1999-08-20)
Running time	102 minutes [2]
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million [3]
Box office	$54.3 million [4]

Mickey Blue Eyes is a 1999 American romantic comedy crime film directed by Kelly Makin. Hugh Grant stars as Michael Felgate, an English auctioneer living in New York City who becomes entangled in his soon-to-be father-in-law's mafia connections. Several of the minor roles are played by actors later featured in The Sopranos .

The film's title comes from Michael being forced to impersonate a gangster, who is spontaneously named "Kansas City Little Big Mickey Blue Eyes"; coincidentally, it is also a play on "Jimmy Blue Eyes," nickname of real-life mobster Vincent Alo. Later on, the film served as an inspiration for 2007 Bollywood film Welcome .

The film was released on August 20, 1999. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $54.3 million against its $20 million budget.

Plot

Michael Felgate is an English auctioneer living in New York City where he manages the Cromwell auction house. He proposes marriage to his girlfriend Gina Vitale, but is disheartened to be turned down. Gina tearfully explains that her father Frank and most of her cousins and uncles are gangsters deeply involved in a Mafia crime family, and she is concerned that Michael will be forced into their world. Michael assures her that he will not let this happen, but barely is their engagement party over before he is unwittingly involved in a money laundering scam, and soon the FBI takes an interest in him.

When one of the money laundering scams at Michael's auction house goes wrong, Gina's cousin Johnny confronts and attacks Michael. Gina takes his gun and fires a warning shot into the ceiling, which ricochets and accidentally kills Johnny. Johnny's father Vito finds out, and he tells Frank he will kill Gina unless Frank kills Michael during his wedding speech. Having grown fond of Michael, Frank confesses what Vito has ordered him to do to Michael and the two of them turn to the FBI in return for protection. The FBI set up an elaborate operation in which Michael's execution will be faked at the wedding reception. Michael is given a hidden recording device and is tasked with trying to record Vito into admitting his criminal activity on tape before he is "executed".

Michael's plan fails, and when Vito realises that his execution is a set-up, he orders Vinnie to kill Michael. Vinnie shoots Gina in what appears to be an accident. Vito is arrested for ordering Michael's execution. As Frank and Michael mourn Gina's apparent death in the back of her ambulance, it is revealed that her death was faked as well, and that Vinnie and Gina were also involved with the FBI as a back-up plan.

Cast

• Hugh Grant as Michael Felgate
• James Caan as Frank Vitale
• Jeanne Tripplehorn as Gina Vitale
• Burt Young as Vito Graziosi
• James Fox as Philip Cromwell
• Joe Viterelli as Vinnie D'Agostino
• Gerry Becker as FBI Agent Bob Connell
• Maddie Corman as Carol
• Tony Darrow as Angelo
• Paul Lazar as Ritchie Vitale
• Tony Sirico as First Risolli Man
• Vincent Pastore as Al
• Frank Pellegrino as Sante
• Scott Thompson as FBI Agent Lewis
• John Ventimiglia as Johnny Graziosi
• Margaret Devine as Helen
• Beatrice Winde as Mrs. Horton
• Aida Turturro as Italian Waitress
• Joseph R. Gannascoli as Jimmy, Gina's Doorman

Production

On November 4, 1997, Hugh Grant was announced as a cast member of the film. ^[5]

The film was originally set to be released internationally by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, through a financing agreement with one of the film's producers Castle Rock Entertainment, ^[6] but it ended up being released by Universal Pictures International instead. This is one of a handful of films, and among the last, until 2007, to be self-released by Universal internationally, and shortly afterwards, the theatrical distribution arm was merged into United International Pictures. ^[7]

Reception

Box office

The film earned $10.2 million in its opening weekend. It went on to gross $33.9 million in the United States and a total of $54.3 million worldwide. ^[8] According to the Los Angeles Times the film was a "marginal money loser". ^[3]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 45% based on 78 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critics consensus states: "High-brow humorists doing low-brow humor never hit their stride." ^[9] At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". ^[10] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. ^[11]

Links to The Sopranos

The film is notable for the number of actors who would go on to appear in the HBO TV series, The Sopranos , including:

• Tony Sirico - Paulie Gualtieri
• John Ventimiglia - Artie Bucco
• Vincent Pastore - Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero
• Aida Turturro - Janice Soprano
• Frank Pellegrino - Bureau Chief Frank Cubitoso
• Joseph R. Gannascoli - Vito Spatafore
• Burt Young - Robert "Bobby" Baccalieri, Sr.
• Tony Darrow - Lawrence "Larry Boy" Barese
• Melissa Marsala - Kelly Aprile

The film is mentioned in the season 2 Sopranos episode "D-Girl", when Amy Safir explains to Christopher Moltisanti that there isn't a demand for mob-related scripts because of this film.

See also

• Vincent Alo, a real-life gangster known as "Jimmy Blue Eyes"

References

1. "Hugh Grant is feeling 'Blue'". CNN . Retrieved December 13, 2010.
2. "MICKEY BLUE EYES (15)". British Board of Film Classification . July 30, 1999. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
3. "Company Town Film Profit Report". Los Angeles Times . August 24, 1999. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
4. "Mickey Blue Eyes". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved October 15, 2010.
5. Cox, Dan (November 5, 1997). "Grant slips 'Mickey' onto sked". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
6. Cox, Dan (December 8, 1997). "WB, Polygram to co-fund Castle Rock". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
7. Groves, Don (October 8, 1999). "'Eyes' to close UPI slate". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
8. "Weekend Box Office". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 3, 2012.
9. "Mickey Blue Eyes (1999)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved January 30, 2021.
10. "Mickey Blue Eyes Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved December 22, 2023.
11. "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Mickey Blue" in the search box). CinemaScore . Retrieved April 28, 2021.

External links

• Mickey Blue Eyes at IMDb
• Mickey Blue Eyes at the TCM Movie Database
• Mickey Blue Eyes at AllMovie
• Mickey Blue Eyes at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Mickey Blue Eyes at Box Office Mojo
• Mickey Blue Eyes at Rotten Tomatoes
• Mickey Blue Eyes at Metacritic