Significantly, John Cassavetes’ style was so powerful that even his acting vehicles for other filmmakers seem as if they were directed by him.
Grade: B+
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Theatrical release poster
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Elaine May’s maverick feature, Mikey and Nicky, starring John Cassavetes and Peter Falk, feels like a sequel to Cassavetes’ earlier film, Husbands, with a touch of another of his features, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie thrown into the mix.
Though May put her own stamp on the material, the gritty, improvised observations clearly display a Cassavetes-like realism. Relying on evocative dialogue and intense acting, the narrative weaves a love-hate bond between two men during one fatal night in Philadelphia’s lower-depths.
When Nicky (Cassavetes) calls Mikey (Falk) yet again to bail him out of trouble—there’s 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 fear, Mikey gets him out of the hotel where he has holed up, and starts helping him with a plan to escape.
However, the perpetually insecure Nicky keeps changing the plan, and soon a hitman (Ned Beatty) is hot on their trail.
As they try to make their escape, the two amigos have to confront various issues of their past–betrayal, regret, death, and above all, the value of trust and mutual friendship.
In one of the film’s best scenes, set at a graveyard, Nicky confronts Mickey about his failure to show at his mother’s funeral, while expressing his own fears of dying. Nicky keeps saying: “I wish my mother was alive; don’t you wish your mother was alive?”
Alongside the two leads, May has cast some iconic New York theater actors, such as William Hickey, Sanford Meisner (the legendary acting coach), and M. Emmet Walsh as bus driver.
Though critically acclaimed, the film was a commercial disappointment, failing to recoup its considerable budget (which ballooned during production and the lengthy editing process) of over $4 million.
Over the years, Mikey and Nicky has developed a small cult following, and May’s director’s cut, was eventually released in a special edition by Criterion.
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
Credits:
Directed, written by Elaine May
Written by Elaine May
Produced by Michael Hausman
Cinematography: Bernie Abramson, Lucien Ballard, Victor J. Kemper
Edited by John Carter, Sheldon Kahn
Music by John Strauss
Production company: Castle Hill Productions
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date: December 21, 1976
Running time: 106 minutes
Budget $4.3 million
