Elaine May's "Mikey and Nicky"
March 30, 2025 7:39 PM Subscribe
"Elaine May set out to use her genius and the overlapping brilliance of Cassavetes and Falk to articulate brutal, profound truths about the joy, horror, and complexities of human experience, as illuminated by the strange codes of a certain subset of insecure, violently overcompensating, crime-prone American men, and a tortured conception of friendship as a messy combination of hatred, love, and everything in between. She succeeded spectacularly, and Mikey and Nicky is an essential reminder that great, deeply personal art endures long after commercial considerations have been rightfully consigned to history." - Nathan Rabin, The Criterion Collection
Wikipedia:
Wikipedia:
May shot 1.4 million feet of film, almost three times as much as was shot for Gone with the Wind. By using three cameras that she sometimes left running for hours, May captured spontaneous interaction between Falk and Cassavetes. At one point, Cassavetes and Falk had both left the set and the cameras remained rolling for several minutes. A new camera operator said "Cut!" only to be immediately rebuked by May for usurping what is traditionally a director's command. He protested that the two actors had left the set. "Yes", replied May, "but they might come back".
God I love this movie.
posted by Carillon at 9:43 PM on March 30 [2 favorites]
posted by Carillon at 9:43 PM on March 30 [2 favorites]
I like that the movie is shot mostly at night and in the city, when at the time it seemed everyone else was shooting day-for-night (shooting during the day with a dark filter, which, you know, never looks convincing). Apparently her family was somehow mob-related and she heard the story the film is based on secondhand! I also like the story how the sound wasn’t ready, so when she showed the movie to some film execs, she voiced all the parts and sound effects herself. What a trip that must have been…
posted by jabah at 4:31 AM on March 31 [2 favorites]
posted by jabah at 4:31 AM on March 31 [2 favorites]
I absolutely love this movie. The interaction between Falk and Cassavetes is palpably both strained and loving in a strange, broken way. It blew my mind that the Columbo guy was actually one of the truly great actors of the 70s (and also helped me appreciate what he was doing in his iconic detective parts). Anything Cassavetes directed with Falk in it was also brilliant.
posted by graymouser at 6:09 AM on March 31 [4 favorites]
posted by graymouser at 6:09 AM on March 31 [4 favorites]
The views expressed by Nathan Rabin are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Lemkin account.
What is the point of this? You don't have to comment, you know. If you're not interested, just move on!
Mikey and Nicky is an astounding film and I'm glad Elaine May is finally getting some respect and consideration for her directing work.
posted by rhymedirective at 6:56 AM on March 31
What is the point of this? You don't have to comment, you know. If you're not interested, just move on!
Mikey and Nicky is an astounding film and I'm glad Elaine May is finally getting some respect and consideration for her directing work.
posted by rhymedirective at 6:56 AM on March 31
Quentin Tarantino has a ten minute take on this movie, pointing out a rare plot structure that reverses sympathy for the characters. He tells of calling up May and asking her what her angle here was, thinking she was saying something about Hollywood itself. The answer she gave swerved to her inspiration of growing up with two neighbor brothers and avoided any analysis of a theme that dotted a film with long scenes of women telling rude men to stop and leave.
posted by Brian B. at 7:10 AM on March 31
posted by Brian B. at 7:10 AM on March 31
What is the point of this? You don't have to comment, you know. If you're not interested, just move on!
If I wasn't interested in this film, I wouldn't have made the FPP. But this is a rare case where the endorsement I'm quoting to interest other people in the work is one that I don't personally agree with.
For whatever reason, I wanted to make that disclaimer.
posted by Lemkin at 8:06 AM on March 31 [2 favorites]
If I wasn't interested in this film, I wouldn't have made the FPP. But this is a rare case where the endorsement I'm quoting to interest other people in the work is one that I don't personally agree with.
For whatever reason, I wanted to make that disclaimer.
posted by Lemkin at 8:06 AM on March 31 [2 favorites]
I think May is a genius but I feel that her concepts often don't come together as well as I would like. I had mixed feelings about M&N, pretty good acting but the whole thing seems not quite engaging enough.
Of course, I would have loved to have seen her un-realized project about Plato, which sounds hilarious no matter how imperfect it would have turned out.
posted by ovvl at 10:21 AM on March 31
Of course, I would have loved to have seen her un-realized project about Plato, which sounds hilarious no matter how imperfect it would have turned out.
posted by ovvl at 10:21 AM on March 31
"...It blew my mind that the Columbo guy was actually one of the truly great actors of the 70s"
I had my moment when I saw him in a German film, "Wings of Desire".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wings_of_Desire
[snip]
Wings of Desire (German: Der Himmel über Berlin, pronounced [deːɐ̯ ˈhɪml̩ ˈʔyːbɐ bɛɐ̯ˈliːn] ⓘ; lit. 'The Heaven/Sky over Berlin') is a 1987 romantic fantasy film written by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger, and directed by Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants, comforting the distressed.
posted by aleph at 1:25 PM on March 31 [2 favorites]
I had my moment when I saw him in a German film, "Wings of Desire".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wings_of_Desire
[snip]
Wings of Desire (German: Der Himmel über Berlin, pronounced [deːɐ̯ ˈhɪml̩ ˈʔyːbɐ bɛɐ̯ˈliːn] ⓘ; lit. 'The Heaven/Sky over Berlin') is a 1987 romantic fantasy film written by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger, and directed by Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants, comforting the distressed.
posted by aleph at 1:25 PM on March 31 [2 favorites]
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posted by Lemkin at 7:46 PM on March 30