I had heard about this film quite a few times, I knew the two leading male stars in it, and I knew it was something do with with a man trying to marry a gangster's daughter, so I decided to give it a go and see what I would think. Basically in New York, English art house auctioneer Michael Felgate (Hugh Grant) proposes to his girlfriend Gina Vitale (Basic Instinct's Jeanne Tripplehorn),but she shockingly turns him down, she explains it is because her father Frank Vitale (James Caan) as well as as her cousins and uncles are a crime family of gangsters heavily involved in Mafia activity. She doesn't want him getting sucked into this world, but he assures her this wouldn't happen, but he unknowingly does become part of a money laundering scheme, before they are even officially engaged, the FBI have him in their sights, and soon enough he is being forced into helping the mob with more laundering scams that he is made aware of, once under the given nickname "Mickey Blue Eyes". When one the laundering schemes goes wrong Gina's cousin Johnny Graziosi (John Ventimiglia) assaults Michael, Gina gets mad, grabs his gun and fires a warning shot into the ceiling, but is ricochets and Johnny is accidentally killed, Johnny's father Vito Graziosi (Rocky's Burt Young) threatens to Frank that he will kill Gina unless Michael is killed during the wedding speeches. Frank cannot hurt his daughter, so he confesses to Michael what Vito has ordered, and they turn out the FBI for protection, the authorities make a setup that will see Michael apparently get assassinated in a fake attack at the wedding reception, he is also given a wire to try and record Vito confessing to his activities and crimes in the mob. The plan fails and Vito catches onto the setup, Vinnie D'Agostino (Analyze This's Joe Viterelli) is ordered to kill him, but he accidentally shoots Gina, Vito is arrested while Michael and Frank are in the ambulance mourning over Gina's death, but it was also fake, Vinnie and Gina were part of the FBI's backup plan, and she wanted to teach her groom and father a lesson, in the end Michael and her make up, and Frank is happy for the Englishman to be part of his regular family. Also starring Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's James Fox as Philip Cromwell, Gerry Becker as FBI Agent Bob Connell, Maddie Corman as Carol the Photographer, Tony Darrow as Angelo, Paul Lazar as Ritchie Vitale and GoodFellas' Vincent Pastore as Al. Grant does his silly English twit act we have come to expect fine, Caan could have perhaps acted a bit more like the real don of the family but is okay, supporting actors all do their parts alright as well, the film though is a little predictable and perhaps dull, it made me laugh in the right places, like the scene where Grant is trying to get mob lingo and certain scenes in the auction house, but otherwise it's not hilariously funny, so all in all it was a see just once comedy. Okay!

I really disliked this comedy--mostly because it just wasn't funny and Hugh Grant's performance was so forced and unbelievable. And this difficulty in his performance (I'll make no gratuitous jokes about his arrest) is due to the awfulness of the script and that he is asked to play way outside his range.

Hugh is getting married, but his fiancée (Jeanne Tripplehorn) has a secret. She's the daughter of a big-time mobster (James Caan--who looks kind of weird in this film--what's with the makeup?)! Well, instead of finding this out and flying back to Britain (that would have been best in the long run),he sticks around because he loves her so much and he knows it will work out fine. It doesn't and I knew it wouldn't when, for laughs, he tries to talk like an American mobster--the comedic low-point of the film. It only got worse from there and I could tell by his pained expression that Grant desperately wanted the film to end.

I recommend this film to no one. Neither dogs, children, adults or penguins--NO ONE! It's frightfully dull and unfunny and it's tough to spend as much money as the studio did and come up with THIS!

Michael Felgate (Hugh Grant) is a funny art auctioneer managing an auction house. He proposes to girlfriend Gina Vitale (Jeanne Tripplehorn) but she rejects him at first to keep him out of her mob family and her gangster father Frank Vitale (James Caan). They agree to get married while keeping out of the family business. However that's harder to maintain when mob boss Vito Graziosi (Burt Young) wants his son Johnny (John Ventimiglia)'s garish painting to be auctioned off by Michael for $50k. Then the FBI comes knocking on his door claiming its possible money laundering.

It starts off really funny at the Chinese restaurant. It has a great promising premise but the comedy fades. It has Hugh Grant's flailing away without a proper partner to play off of. There is a funny bit where Hugh struggles with the mobster accent. Forgedaboud it! That was hilarious. The movie needs more moments like that.