MIKEY AND NICKY B
USA (119 mi) 1976 d: Elaine May
The fun of the movie is seeing John Cassavetes work together with Peter Falk, best friends still reeling from working together in Cassavetes film HUSBANDS (1970), one of the best films ever made about friendship. This is Elaine May’s take on the same subject, told in a completely different manner, using two unlikeable characters, each just as despicable as the other, but where loyalty and friendship define the subject matter. What’s different, of course, is that the Cassavetes film is actually about the people being portrayed onscreen, while this film is more of a fatalistic, nightmarish version gone wrong, where the reality is behind the scenes, rarely onscreen, making this feel like one long, extended improvisation. Originally conceived as a play at least 20 years before it was finally shot, there is reason to believe it has gone through various permutations before reaching the final product. Initially released by Paramount in an incomplete print that they hurriedly put together, May eventually completed a slightly longer version with her own edits, shooting 1.4 million feet of film, almost 3 times the amount used in GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), a record that may still stand for a two-hour feature. Apparently, she was so in love with what “might” happen on camera, believing a great performance is sacred, she wanted to be prepared in every case, using 3 camera angles on nearly every shot, which becomes apparent early on, as the shots are positioned nearly the same throughout, simply alternating the angle. Cassavetes and Falk, of course, are excellent, though you could certainly see this as a stage device, as their improvisational skills could completely change the outcome on any given night.
The weakest aspect of the film is the story itself, which is pretty bare bones, a sleazy crook Nicky (Cassavetes) on the run trying not to get offed, as he knows there’s a gangland contract on his life, calling on his lifelong friend Mikey (Falk) to help him get through the night alive, offering little in the way of human transcendence, as it’s a fairly irreverent take on life and what you make of it, where the viewers are likely to be split in terms of finding any human relevance here, while the strongest aspect is the tone itself, completely unsentimentalized, using a naturalistic feel throughout, especially from these two zany lead characters who don’t fit the mold of Hollywood heroes. What starts out as a hilarious meeting, when the two guys get together in the first place, where Nicky’s in the midst of a paranoiac panic attack, deteriorates into a battle of wits and egos, where both men are misogynistic and crude, probably lifelong street hustlers, where they have to lie and cheat their way into getting what they want. But when they drop all the nonsense and just try to relate to one another, it’s a hit or miss proposition, occasionally working brilliantly, like the womanizing behavior of Nicky, where you can feel a lifetime of deceit preceding each visit, like something out of FACES (1968), where over time the women simply grow sick of hearing any more of his pretentious crap, as he’s such a difficult guy to get along with in the first place, eventually it’s no longer worth it. They don’t buy the act anymore. Mikey’s best scenes are his earnestness in proving his friendship, where he’ll constantly go the extra mile just to eliminate all doubts, where he continually does what he needs to do to establish trust.
Throughout the film, Cassavetes is the unsympathetic character, as he’s a loose cannon who seems capable of any and every abuse, where his belligerent behavior is contemptuous towards women (and blacks), eventually turning on anyone who gets too close. For a lead character, he’s such an amoral slimeball that he’s difficult to put up with for two hours, where at some point viewers may wish somebody would shut him up permanently, where people may think Falk is a saint for putting up with him. They have a beautiful scene together breaking into a cemetery after midnight to visit the grave of Nicky’s dead mother, where the on again and off again friendship is continually fleeting, where Cassavetes couldn’t be more obnoxious, but also desperately human. There’s a bit of a tonal shift that may change the audience’s view of each character, but the storyline itself grows more predictable, as if constrained by the inevitable plotline. Many of the secondary characters don’t have a chance to stand out, buried offscreen for most of the movie, given only the briefest moments to make something of their limited roles. One exception to that is Joyce Van Patten, Nicky's middle aged wife who desperately tries to hold her own against the snake oil charm of the world's lousiest husband, only to fail in the end. If this movie highlights anything, it’s the flaws in the human condition, where every weakness is exploited and truth stands for nothing, as what can you get for it? If you think deceit is a common element of the male species, this is a film for you, as this film is guided by that principle throughout, right down to the exasperating final shot. Still, the movie has a rough edge and meandering feel throughout, where often the viewers may think they’re not really getting anywhere, like two characters adrift, continually stuck inside their own messed up heads, giving this an existential tone of Sartre’s No Exit, where these guys are doomed no matter what choices they make.
