Mickey Blue Eyes film review

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MICKEY BLUE EYES

There were five long years separating Notting Hill from Four Weddings And A Funeral, but for those wondering how on earth they'll cope for another half decade without Hugh Grant's floppy, stammering English charm, some happy news.

It's the second film this summer banking on his characteristic routine, and as most things in movieland come along in twos (aliens, asteroids, volcanoes, etc), it's also the first Mafia comedy caper of the year, ahead of Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal in Analyze This next month.

And while we're talking stats, it's also the second picture from Simian Films - the production house run by Grant and Liz Hurley - following 1997's Extreme Measures.

But back in New York, Grant swaps scalpel for auctioneer's hammer as Michael Felgate, plying a floppily charming, plum-accented trade for prominent art dealer Cromwells, and planning a marriage proposal to schoolteacher Gina Vitale (Jeanne Tripplehorn) .

Unfortunately, she tears out of the restaurant at the moment when a simple 'Yes, I will' might have been a preferable response, from Michael's point of view. He decides to track down Gina's father Frank (James Caan), whom he's yet to meet, to fathom her reaction.

But Frank is the problem, or at least part of it. Because his family happens to be the Graziosi family, one of the most notorious crime organisations the Big Apple can muster. And Gina doesn't want Michael drawn into their world. He promises that they can rise above it. But this is a romantic comedy. Things are never that simple.

For that matter though, this is a rather better example of the rom-com than we're usually saddled with, and while slight, fairly inoffensive nonsense, it's nevertheless a well-timed knockabout caper with a strong laugh count that really should be the rule not the exception.

Grant, Tripplehorn and Caan are all excellent - the lovers working well together (Tripplehorn lively and delightful, Grant basically just Grant) and Caan rising above cliched mob material with a character concerned for his daughter first, his position second.

And yes, there's some degree of falling over and contrived gags, but Burt Young balances against complete farce with a sinister turn as family boss Uncle Vito, while Grant enjoys himself in a couple of showcase scenes - one notably in a restaurant when he attempts to become the fictional gangster of the title to impress two rival heavies.