Mikey and Nicky

Gena Rowlands is nowhere to be found in this 1976 entry, and John Cassavetes only appears in front of the camera. Still, Elaine May's writing and direction is kind of in the Cassavetes spirit, depicting as it does two damaged and volatile souls. It's certainly hard to believe that her follow-up film was Ishtar (after which she never directed again; if only more auteurs were so noble). Cassavetes regular Peter Falk is Mikey, a small-time crook who has become so aggravated with his self-destructive cohort Nicky (Cassavetes) that he arranges to have him killed by a professional hit man (Ned Beatty), then fails to keep the hyperactive Nicky in one place long enough for the hit man to find him. The question is whether their wild cavorting from one seedy area of nighttime New York to another will make Mikey reconsider his decision as the two bond once more. Or is Nicky incapable of bonding with anybody, even his alleged best friend? Both actors are in top form, and though fans of more plot-driven movies may find the film wanting, it's well worth a look