The film's title comes from Michael being forced to impersonate a gangster, who is spontaneously named "Kansas City Little Big Mickey Blue Eyes".
The film was released on August 20, 1999. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $54.3 million against its $36 million budget.
Plot
Michael Felgate is an Englishauctioneer living in New York City where he manages the Cromwell auction house. He proposes marriage to his girlfriend Gina Vitale, but is disheartened to be turned down. Gina tearfully explains that her father Frank and most of her cousins and uncles are gangsters deeply involved in a Mafia crime family, and she is concerned that Michael will be forced into their world. Michael assures her that he will not let this happen, but barely is their engagement party over before he is unwittingly involved in a money laundering scam, and soon the FBI takes an interest in him.
When one of the money laundering scams at Michael's auction house goes wrong, Gina's cousin Johnny confronts and attacks Michael. Gina takes his gun and fires a warning shot into the ceiling, which ricochets and accidentally kills Johnny. Johnny's father Vito finds out, and he tells Frank he will kill Gina unless Frank kills Michael during his wedding speech. Having grown fond of Michael, Frank confesses what Vito has ordered him to do to Michael and the two of them turn to the FBI in return for protection. The FBI set up an elaborate operation in which Michael's execution will be faked at the wedding reception. Michael is given a hidden recording device and is tasked with trying to record Vito into admitting his criminal activity on tape before he is "executed".
Michael's plan fails, and when Vito realises that his execution is a set-up, he orders Vinnie to kill Michael. Vinnie shoots Gina in what appears to be an accident. Vito is arrested for ordering Michael's execution. As Frank and Michael mourn Gina's apparent death in the back of her ambulance, it is revealed that her death was faked as well, and that Vinnie and Gina were also involved with the FBI as a back-up plan.
On November 4, 1997, Hugh Grant was announced as a cast member of the film,[5] with production taking place in New York City in 1998 including in Manhattan, in Central Park and at Silvercup Studios.[6][7][8][9][10] Producer Elizabeth Hurley was Hugh Grant's girlfriend at the time.[11]
The film earned $10.2 million in its opening weekend. It went on to gross $33.9 million in the United States and a total of $54.3 million worldwide.[14] According to the Los Angeles Times the film was a "marginal money loser".[3]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 45% based on 78 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critics consensus states: "High-brow humorists doing low-brow humor never hit their stride."[15] At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[17]
Links to The Sopranos
The film is notable for the number of actors who would go on to appear in the HBO television series, The Sopranos, including:
The film is mentioned in the season 2 Sopranos episode "D-Girl", when Amy Safir explains to Christopher Moltisanti that there isn't a demand for mob-related scripts because of this film.
See also
Vincent Alo, a real-life gangster known as "Jimmy Blue Eyes"
