Mikey and Nicky – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1976
Director: Elaine May
Writer: Elaine May
Cast: Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, Ned Beatty, Rose Arrick, Carol Grace, William Hickey, Sanford Meisner, Joyce Van Patten, M. Emmet Walsh

Release Date: January 22nd, 2019
Approximate Running Time: 106 Minutes 22 seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $39.95

"Elaine May crafted a gangster film like no other in the nocturnal odyssey Mikey and Nicky, capitalizing on the chemistry between frequent collaborators John Cassavetes and Peter Falk by casting them together as small-time mobsters whose lifelong relationship has turned sour. Set over the course of one night, this restless drama finds Nicky (Cassavetes) holed up in a hotel after the boss he stole money from puts a hit out on him. Terrified, he calls on Mikey (Falk), the one person he thinks can save him." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, and small dirt. At the request of director Elaine May, the grain in the picture has been left completely intact, with no grain management applied."

Mikey and Nicky comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 41.5 GB

Feature: 29.7 GB

The sources look excellent; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity, contrast, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic. That said, most of the film takes place at night, and black levels look solid throughout.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio is in excellent shape; dialogue always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a TV spot (32 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a theatrical trailer (1 minute 38 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an audio interview from 1976 with actor Peter Falk (45 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview with film critics Richard Brody and Carrie Rickey (23 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview with distributor Julian Schlossberg and actress Joyce Van Patten (14 minutes 39 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), and a 10-page leaflet with an essay titled Difficult Men written by Nathan Rabin, cast & crew information and information about the transfer.

Summary:

Elaine May wrote and directed Mikey and Nicky; it is one of only four films that she directed. The other three are A New Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid, and Ishtar.

A mobster who stole money from his boss has a contract put on his life. He reaches out to his oldest friend, who is also a mobster, but can he be trusted, or will he lead him to his death?

After directing two comedies, Elaine May went in a completely different direction with her third film, Mikey and Nicky, a crime drama about loyalty and betrayal. Tone-wise, Mikey and Nicky greatly differs from her other three directional films. While humor played a significant role in the films she directed, Mikey and Nicky adopts a darker tone and is devoid of any comedic elements. That said, the result is one of the most original crime films to emerge after The Godfather.

Although Mikey and Nicky has most of the elements associated with crime films, it does not always execute them in a familiar way. Its opening setup does a phenomenal job laying out who everyone is and what lies ahead for them. Despite their strong bond, having been friends since childhood, there is a tension between them that escalates to a boiling point. Additionally, without revealing too much, it becomes evident early on where each character stands.

The two leads, Peter Falk (Columbo) and John Cassavetes (Rosemary’s Baby), are outstanding in the roles of Mikey and Nicky. Peter Falk portrays Mikey, the more grounded of these two characters; he has a wife and child, and there is stability in his life. John Cassavetes's character Nicky is short-fused and impulsive, and his paranoia has him second-guessing everything Mikey is doing for him. A strength of their performances is how effectively they use facial expressions and body language instead of words. That said, they are surrounded by an excellent supporting cast.

The narrative is flawlessly executed; it does a superb job of balancing tense and poignant moments. In the case of the latter, when they reminisce about the past and those in their lives that have died, one scene in particular stands out: a moment where they are visiting Nicky’s mother’s grave, and instead of embracing things in a somber way, Mikey becomes annoyed at Nicky’s disrespect of the dead. That said, this moment solidifies Nicky’s selfishness and how he takes for granted his friendship with Mikey. Another area that excels is the visuals, which are filled with arresting moments that heighten the mood. Ultimately, Mikey and Nicky is a vastly underrated crime film whose gut-punch ending serves as the perfect coda.

The Criterion Collection gives Mikey and Nicky an exceptional release that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and insightful extras; highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer