Pacionsbo
Absolutely Fantastic
Dynamixor
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Fatma Suarez
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
LeonLouisRicci
Interesting but Ultimately and Art Film Showcasing Two Method Actors, John Cassavetes who uses Method Acting as a Whole New Method, and Peter Falk Professionally Playing along with what Writer/Director Elaine May and one Assumes Cassavetes had in Mind.It's All in the Mind and We get to Penetrate the Craniums of Two Small Time 1970's Hoods on the Lam in what amounts to a Couple of Blocks in the Big City. The Character Study takes place in less than 24 Hours and the Two Hour Running Time is a Tense, Claustrophobic, Anxiety Riddled Atmosphere of much Rough Housing and Verbal Sparring.The Two are Not too Bright so the Banter is Raw and Reveals very Little as the Screenplay makes Pretensions to Say A Lot Without Saying much. Words and Phrases are Repeated Endlessly (is there an echo in here?) The Whole Thing becomes an Exercise in Frustration, Fighting, Wrestling, Pawing, Slapping, Ball-Busting, and Betrayal.Ned Beatty Shows Up in the Third Act as the Antagonist as the Conclusion is Opened Up somewhat for Ventilation but the Air has been Sucked Out of this Thing Long Ago and Replaced with Stagnant Carbon Dioxide from the Constant Back and Forth Bickering.Overall much Too Long to Sustain this amount of Close-Up Scrutiny, Watching and Listening to these "Real" Low-Lifers. Worth a Watch for Fans of the Actors and the Cassavetes No Frills Film-Making Format that the Female Writer/Director Emulates and seems to be making an Homage.
MortalKombatFan1
"Mikey and Nicky" directed by Elaine May is all talk, but the talk is wonderful. It's a man's picture in every sense, following the two titular friends around New York for a night; low level hoods for the mob, with Nicky (John Cassavetes) trying to get away from his old profession when he thinks a hit man is coming after him, his childhood friend Mikey (Peter Falk) tries to help him.Both performers are fantastic here, with Nicky's paranoid manic performance playing against Mikey's straight man routine. The film is episodic in nature following one event after the other not to propel the plot, but to give you a feel for both characters and their friendship. Nicky starts out in a state of paranoia in a hotel room, but later gets into trouble for causing a stir at a bar, visits an old fling for a quick lovemaking session (hilarously with Mikey in the room next door eating grapes) and alienating his friend all at the same time. Mikey feels like he's along for the ride, hanging around to get his friend out of trouble, but at the same time enjoying his manic intensity. We see their home lives as well, shedding light into the lives of the women who married mob men.Elain May tried hard to make a Cassavetes style picture, the actor/director was famous for his "improvised" movies that had honest, raw performances. The only difference here is the deft sense of comedy that is unique to May's writing (like the scene where Nicky acts inappropriately at a cemetery). The intentionally low key subject and technical rawness of the camera-work and sparse soundtrack add authenticity to the New York locations, making the film have a "lived in feeling". May's directing style of having numerous takes to find authentic performances from the actors is very much in the Cassavetes tradition, though. Although this movie seems to be more traditionally "enjoyable" than the work of Cassavetes, placing more value on entertainment than his pictures."Mikey and Nicky" is a wonderful 70's picture, a lost gem of sorts, which should be appreciated by more people, and not just fans of the gangster genre or movies from this time period.
drosse67
Viewers familiar with John Cassavetes' directing style will see his influence in this film, but Elaine May wrote and directed it. It is an engaging, highly unusual drama about two childhood pals mixed up with the mob. Don't expect Martin Scorsese or Francis Coppola glitz here---this movie is different. There is a real, uncinematic edge to it. It almost plays like a documentary, or a "reality movie." And the actors--Falk and Cassevetes were good friends and frequently worked together--allow for unique male-bonding (and a dissection of the male sex) that rarely occurs in modern film (another characteristic of a Cassavetes-directed film). Women are basically throwaway characters in many of his films, and that is the case here. This movie will either be an endurance test for audiences, or a fascinating experience. It was the latter for me.
shneur
If you want to see a movie about two utterly unsympathetic characters, this is the one. The acting is superb, both from John Cassavetes as the insane paranoid whom, as the saying goes, they REALLY ARE out to get, and from Peter Falk as his lifelong best friend to whom he turns for rescue. Big mistake, but since they're both amoral mobsters, and misogynistic bastards to boot, it's hard to decide whom to root for LESS. Only writer/director Elaine May could have gotten away with this one. I thought it interesting that in a lengthy interview with producer Michael Hausman included on the DVD, he disclosed that the two stars had "very different ideas" about the script, that the director was nearly impossible to work with, that the director of photography had impossible demands made of him, that the crew was constantly angry about being made to sit around waiting, and so on. This mood of one big VERY dysfunctional family comes across clearly on the screen.
