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Mikey and Nicky

Director in Person
Screening on Film
$12 Special Event Tickets
Directed by Elaine May.
With John Cassavetes, Peter Falk, Carol Grace.
US, 1976, 35mm, color, 119 min.

May made a brave departure from comedy with this unexpectedly dark and ultimately devastating study of two petty hoodlums and former childhood friends caught in the spiral of guilt and self-destructive behavior that unwinds in the course of a rambling, insomniac night spent fleeing from a contract killer. Regular collaborators John Cassavetes and Peter Falk spark with raw desperation as two men who view one other as a distorting mirror reflection of themselves, each struggling with the burden of mid-age and unwanted friendship. Complimenting and subtly commenting on May’s unflinching portrait of male narcissistic self-loathing are the rich female characters who watch in stunned disbelief from the margins of the film, led by the legendary Carol Grace, the inspiration for Capote’s Holly Golightly. Mikey and Nicky is regularly cited today as one of the unheralded masterpieces of 1970s American cinema.

Mikey and Nicky introduction and post-screening discussion with Haden Guest and Elaine May.

Part of film series

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The Comic Vision of Elaine May

Other film series with this film

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Furious Cinema '70-'77

Current and upcoming film series

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The Reincarnations of Delphine Seyrig

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Rosine Mbakam, 2025 McMillan-Stewart Fellow