The "Bumbling Englishman In A Foreign Land" bit has been done so many times before that it has become a parody of itself; pre-Hugh Grant, it was done to death by Rowan Atkinson, and before him, Dudley Moore.
Difference is, they were funny.
THE STORY (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**)
Description from the Official Site:
"...in which Hugh Grant, as Michael Felgate, elegant,
debonair Englishman, falls in love with his
wonderful girlfriend Gina, as played by Jeanne
Tripplehorn, and is welcomed with open arms by
Frank, her father, as played by James Caan. In
time, however, Michael begins to realize that
becoming part of Gina's family may indeed mean
becoming part of The Family."
Hookay. Now, Bammer's turn:
...in which Hugh Grant once again plays Hugh Grant;
aided and abetted by Jeanne Tripplehorn, who came
this close to convincing me that she wasn't
Yet Another Warm Place To Put It, and James Caan,
who looked way tired, and really shouldn't
try to sing again.
Or something like that.
THE UPSHOT
Mickey Blue Eyes is, to me, a prime example of what Hollywood Muscle can do for you: throw enough star power, and enough dough, at a movie, and you can get away with damn near anything. And a wee bit o' nepotism - in the guise of being the producer's husband (or is that, the star's wife? Hmmm...) - don' hurt none, either.
Okay, okay, it wasn't all that bad. In fact, my gripe isn't that it was necessarily bad but that it just wasn't all that good. It was potential, wasted; and I hate wasted potential. I really did enjoy Dudley Moore (his Arthur was marvelous), and Hugh Grant could, if he tried, have that same kind of flava. But why should he try? As long as audiences keep paying to see him play himself, over and over, who needs to stretch?
He does; because he'll learn, sooner or later, that Cute only takes you so far.
You'll notice I haven't spent too much time in reviewing the movie itself. That's because if you've seen the trailers, you've pretty much seen the movie. Ok, here's the plot: English art auctioner wants to marry Noo Yawk inner-city schoolteacher, who doesn't want to tell him that her dad is part of the mob. He soon meets her father and his Crew anyway. Wackiness Ensues. No, I'm not kidding; that's pretty much it. You can fill in the blanks and cook this stew yourself easily by taking the previews you've undoubtedly seen, adding a liberal amount of stereotypes you've heard about Italians and the mafia, sprinkling it with all the stereotypes you've heard about Englishmen, and mix well.
I heard myself laughing at one or two scenes (the one with the Chinese restaurant owner was pretty funny; the scene with the dueling burials was cute, I admit; and Ritchie was like something out of a whole different movie), but one or two funny scenes does not a funny movie make.
THE "BLACK FACTOR" [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith]
No BF here (BS, maybe; but that's Another Rant For Another Time), except that it's about time that the culture being badly mimicked, wasn't Ours.
BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE
I treasure my hard-earned dollar enough to be discerning about my movie choices. I am, admittedly, hard on flicks, but big names or not, some things just should not be seen, or heard. And unless you're a big Hugh Grant fiend...uh, I mean, fan...this flick, my friends, is one of those things. In other words...fuggedaboudit.
MICKEY BLUE EYES:
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