Mikey and Nicky

"Do you know the difference between not believing in something and having a little respect for it?" An alcoholic road-movie within the confines of a few seedy back streets of late-night New York, where the mutual trust and fraternization of a duo of losers goes to the bone. And then they say women don't understand male friendships, which they may not, but at least Elaine May does. Even though it seems to ride a very improvisational wave, it doesn't matter, though, as John Cassavetes and Peter Falk pull it off incredibly well. Still, the most interesting thing to come out of this is the character of Ned Beatty, in the form of a seriously conceived role as the perpetually grumpy "hit man from Wish", who laments that he has nowhere to park, that he runs through more gas than he makes in a night, that even his easy job is being spoiled by others, or rants that he's incompetent or something, etc. Such a fresh approach would have potential within the genre even today. (18/09/2024)