MIKEY AND NICKY

USA | 1976 | DCP| 106 mins.
Director: Elaine May
Cast: Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, Ned Beatty
Nicky (Cassavetes) is in trouble. Hiding from the mob in a Philadelphia hotel room, the frantic gangster calls Mikey (Falk) for help. Little does Nicky know that his old pal is in cahoots with the exasperated hitman (Beatty) hunting him down. As Mikey and Nicky roam the city, director May applies her keen eye for flawed male characters to this deteriorating friendship, one that seems destined to end in a harrowing betrayal. Featuring career-best work from longtime collaborators Falk and Cassavetes, this darkly funny, anxiety-inducing crime story is one of the great American films of the 1970s. (JM)