Mikey and Nicky
Mikey and Nicky | |
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Directed by | Elaine May |
Written by | Elaine May |
Produced by | Michael Hausman |
Starring | |
Cinematography |
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Edited by | |
Music by | John Strauss |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 106 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $4.3 million |
Mikey and Nicky is a 1976 American
The production ran over its schedule and budget, leading to tensions between May and Paramount Pictures, who revoked her final cut privilege. When finally released on December 21, 1976, the film bombed at the box office, which led to May not directing again for a decade.[1] Her director's cut of the film was screened in 1978, which was remastered and released by the Criterion Collection in 2019. [2]
Plot
When Nicky (John Cassavetes) calls Mikey (Peter Falk) yet again to bail him out of trouble—this time a contract on his life for money he stole from his mob boss—Mikey, as always, shows up to help. Overcoming the obstacles of Nicky's paranoia and blind fear, Mikey gets him out of the hotel where he has holed up, and starts to help him plan his escape, but Nicky keeps changing the plan, and a hitman (Ned Beatty) is hot on their trail. As they try to make their escape, the two friends have to confront issues of betrayal, regret, and the value of friendship versus self-preservation.
Cast
- Peter Falk as Mikey
- John Cassavetes as Nicky
- Ned Beatty as Kinney
- Rose Arrick as Annie
- Carol Grace as Nellie
- William Hickey as Sid Fine
- Sanford Meisner as Dave Resnick
- Joyce Van Patten as Jan
- M. Emmet Walsh as bus driver
Cast notes
- May originally cast Paramount president Gulf+Western, was not amused, and demanded that she recast.
Production
The film's original $1.6 million budget grew to $2.2 million, causing original producers
May shot 1.4 million feet of film, almost three times as much as was shot for
Post-production
When Paramount assumed control over Mikey and Nicky, May was willing to fight for her film. After losing the lawsuits to get her name removed from A New Leaf, she could not watch Paramount butcher another one of her films. Instead of turning over all of the footage, she hid two important reels of it in her husband's friend's garage in Connecticut. Although Paramount traced the reels to the garage, the company had no legal jurisdiction to search a house outside of the state of New York.[5] May eventually instigated the return of the reels and allowed Paramount to create its cut; she did not direct again for over a decade.
Release
Angered by May's contentiousness during filming and editing, Paramount booked the completed film into theaters for a few days to satisfy contractual obligations, but did not give the film its full support. Paramount's cut, riddled with continuity errors, was released to the ridicule of critics. This led John Simon to call the film "a celluloid death wish" in a 1976 article in The New Yorker.[6] In 1978, Julian Schlossberg, who had previously worked in acquisitions for Paramount before starting his own company, Castle Hill Productions, purchased the rights from the studio with May and Falk.
A new version of the film, approved by May, was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City for the Directors Guild of America Fiftieth Anniversary Tribute on November 17, 1986. The film was also shown in Park City, Utah, at the United States Film Festival's Tribute to John Cassavetes on January 25, 1989. The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD by The Criterion Collection in 2019.
Reception
The
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10.[8] According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 based on 15 critics, the film received "universal acclaim".[9] In 2018, the Guardian praised the film as 'a neglected gem of 70s cinema', granting it a five star review. [10]
References
- ^ "'Mikey and Nicky' was Elaine May's followup to her acclaimed 'The Heartbreak Kid'".
- ^ "10 Things I Learned: 'Mikey and Nicky'".
- ^ "AFI|Catalog".
- ^ Blum, David (16 March 1987). "The Road to 'Ishtar': How Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman and Elaine May Made a Farce in the Desert for Just $40 Million". New York: 42.
- ^ Cooper, Patrick (2019). "Aren't You Gonna Die Someday?": Elaine May's Mikey and Nicky: An Examination, Reflection, and Making Of. p. 212.
- ^ Simon, John (10 January 1977). "May, Bogdanovich, and Streisand: Varieties of Death Wish". New York: 55.
- ^ Canby, Vincent. "'Mikey and Nicky,' Film on Amity." New York Times, 22 December 1976, 34.
- ^ "Mikey and Nicky (1976)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
- Fandom, Inc.Retrieved July 9, 2021.
- ^ "Mikey and Nicky review – a neglected gem of 70s cinema". Theguardian.com. Retrieved Jun 15, 2018.
External links
- Mikey and Nicky at IMDb
- Mikey and Nicky at AllMovie
- Mikey and Nicky at Rotten Tomatoes
- Mikey and Nicky at Turner Classic Movies
- Essay by Paul Sherman at Turner Classic Movies
- Mikey and Nicky: Difficult Men an essay by Criterion Collection