Mickey Blue Eyes

Mickey Blue Eyes is a 1999 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.

Mickey Blue Eyes
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKelly Makin
Produced byElizabeth Hurley
Charles Mulvehill
Written byAdam Scheinman
Robert Kuhn
Starring
Music byBasil Poledouris
CinematographyDonald E. Thorin
Edited byDavid Freeman
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
(North America)
Universal Pictures
(International)
Release date
  • August 20, 1999 (1999-08-20)
Running time
102 minutes[2]
CountryUnited Kingdom
United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$75 million[3]
Box office$54,264,342[3]

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 an unofficial 2007 Bollywood adaptation, Welcome.

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

Reception

The film earned $10,178,289 on its opening weekend, and went on to gross $33,864,342 in the US and a total of $54,264,342 worldwide.[4][5]

Reviews of the film were mixed. It currently holds a 45% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 76 reviews (34 positive, 42 negative). The site's consensus states: "High-brow humorists doing low-brow humor never hit their stride."[6]

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

Jeanne Tripplehorn went on to star in Big Love, which is also an HBO TV series.

The movie is mentioned by name in the 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 2010-12-13.
  2. "MICKEY BLUE EYES (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 1999-07-30. Retrieved 2013-07-05.
  3. "Mickey Blue Eyes". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  4. "Company Town Film Profit Report". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  5. "Weekend Box Office". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  6. "Mickey Blue Eyes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
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