Peter Falk is Mikey. John Cassavetes is Nicky. Best friends and gangsters, Nicky is counting on Mikey to help him skip town after stealing money from “the boss”. I tried to ignore the blurb on the DVD cover but this is really one of the best mob dramas on film. Cassavetes is brilliant – and I don’t use the term lightly – as Nicky. He and Falk obviously had a rapport that actors dream of. Reportedly, Elaine May, who directed, would often let the cameras roll while the two actors improvised scenes for extended stretches of time (apparently, much of their work went uncaptured because of May’s approach). It’s an intimate film; tender and tough in a way that the later Analyze This flicks attempt to parody. Friendship is seldom as heartbreakingly treacherous as the one featured here.
by Marlin Tyree | Source: Home Vision Entertainment DVD
25 Jan 2007 7:14 PM | Submit Comment
