WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY ELAINE MAY, AND STARRING CASSAVETES ALONG WITH HIS OWN LONG-TERM COLLABORATOR PETER FALK, MIKEY AND NICKY REVEALS A LOT ABOUT CASSAVETES’ CINEMA.
First and foremost, it’s the buddy film to end all buddy films—or rather the one which dwells on something, an emptiness to friendship, which other buddy films are anxious to fill. There’s none of the conventional problems and misunderstandings here, just one uncomfortable truth which the characters spend a nigh-time skirting: gangster Nicky (Cassavetes) is afraid that the mob boss has put out a contract on him; his best friend Mikey (Falk) responds to his call for help, lures him out of hiding, and tries to persuade him that his fears are groundless while setting him up for that inevitable hit. Thus the plot turns not on a question of suspense as to whether or not Mikey has betrayed his old friend but on a question of behaviour: has Nicky guessed and, if so, is he leading Mikey on in his turn?