Elaine May’s unsung gem from the 1970s

“Mikey and Nicky” has never assumed its place among the great films of the 1970s; perhaps because it came out in an era of great films, perhaps because a woman directed it — and partly because it was so unexpected, in that Elaine May was widely regarded as a comedy filmmaker.

It’s time it did. This is a gem, one of the best pictures of 1976, starring John Cassavetes as a mob embezzler frantically trying to escape the hit placed on his life, and Peter Falk as the childhood buddy who tries to help him get out of town. With Cassavetes and Falk in the lead roles, the casting calls to mind “Husbands,” which Cassavetes wrote and directed.

With “Mikey and Nicky,” May calls to mind some of the hyper-emotion of a Cassavetes film, but without Cassavetes’ sloppy approach to narrative.

Pacific Film Archive