Mickey Blue EyesIt is a predictably funny story. The main ingredients here are dollops of funny expressions from Hugh Grant, a series of funny incidents and funny mobsters. The bottomline: It is funny.Grant plays Michael of an auction house in New York. He wants to marry this woman he is madly, truly and deeply in love with. For those waiting to pop the question, Michael demonstrates an innovative way of doing it - put the ``will you marry me'' message in a fortune cookie. Of course, since this is a Hugh Grant movie, there is a big mix-up. Anyway, it means more laughs.Now the twist in the script. Girl loves boy but can't marry him. Boy is upset, is persistent to the point of being irritating and finally gets a reasonable reply. See, marrying Gina (Jeanne Tripplehorn) means marrying the mob. Now begins the balancing act. Michael has to marry Gina and also try and stay away from the murky dealings of the mob.Helping him maintain that balance is his to be father-in-law and mobster FrankVitale (James Cann). Things don't work out as planned. Before Michael can bring down the hammer on the next auction piece, he has laundered money for the mob and become an accessory to murder. Now we get to the predictable part, the end. For those who want to, it's a happy ending after a series of foreseeable drama.Oh, the Mickey Blue Eyes bit. Well, there is this point in the movie when Michael has no choice but to impersonate a Kansas City gangster. And trying to figure out a name, Michael and his father-in-law come up with Mickey Blue Eyes. Cute.See the film if you like the Hugh Grant variety of humour. He makes more funny faces here than he did in Four Weddings and a Funeral. And his attempt to talk the mobster talk (they don't pronounce the Rs) is hilarious.After all the action and horror films that have hit the silver screen in the past few weeks, Mickey Blue Eyes is a nice reprieve. It is in keeping with the holiday spirit, so go for a laugh.- ANURADHANAGARAJCarpoolSilly, loud, predictable and all American, this is one of those films Hollywood usually springs moviegoers at around Christmas time. Daniel Miller (David Paymer) is the white collar advertising executive on his way to making a career-making presentation. He also has to drive the bratty neighbourhood kids to school. Stopping off at a food store, he bumps into the boisterous Franklin Laszlo (Tom Arnold), who runs a bankrupt carnival on the verge of shut down. The duo are caught in the middle of a hold-up where Arnold, mistaken to be the bad guy and has no choice but to take Paymer and the kids hostage.The movie follows the car as it careens all around the city, pursued by bumbling cops before lurching to a halt at Paymer's presentation for food store magnate Hammerman. Played by portly Rod Steiger, who could've passed off for Marlon Brando, the tycoon threatens to hand them over to the police, but raises the white flag the moment that great Hollywood and Capitol Hill gagof family values is pulled on him. All ends well and of course Arnold teaches Paymer about loosening his collar.Inspector GadgetRobocop meets The Mask in this Walt Disney film based on a French cartoon character. Matthew Broderick is the ordinary security guard with hero-cop daydreams at a robotics facility.He's blown apart while thwarting a robbery by villainous Sanford Scolex (Rupert Everett delightfully overplaying the part). Broderick's remains are taken by pretty scientist Joely Fisher and the city administration turns him into the gadget-laden crime-fighting prototype policeman, a la Robocop.In what is perhaps amongst the oldest cinematic gag from Superman to Scooby Doo, evil Evertt creates Gadget's all-robotic evil twin (who strangely resembles Frank Sinatra) who stomps off on a destructive spree. One scene where the bad Broderick pursues fleeing citizens, Godzilla-like, has a Japanese tourist screaming ``This is the reason I left Tokyo.''(Broderick was last seen dodging dinosaursin Godzilla).But that's the only good line in this flick laden with special effects, which stand in for the script. Some of the effects are so loud they could wake up those dozing over this scriptless wonder.Joely Fisher is perfectly at home having watched Jim Carrey's FX antics in The Mask. But Broderick is no Carrey and fails to rescue this flagging film. The novelty of the plot and the gadgets wears out pretty quickly before it collapses into predictability. And Everett could have been talking about the film when he intones, ``perhaps someone has been watching too many Sunday morning cartoons.'' Perhaps, this one would have been better left as a comic book.- SANDEEP UNNITHAN
