Alright folks, Harry here. Now I don't know about you, but I've been enjoying the trailers for MICKEY BLUE EYES. They just seem to be tickling me the right way. So, I'm a bit curious. Now... as for it being the 'funniest film of the year' as the Ice Captain states... Well, the question bares asking... "What Comedies Have You Seen This Year?" Has he seen ELECTION? Or DETROIT ROCK CITY? Or SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER AND UNCUT? What about LAKE PLACID? Hmmmm... Well, I'm seeing this one no matter what, but be cautious of unchecked hyperbole...

My ex girlfriend (ex for many reasons you don't have to know about, but one being a tendency to drag me to chick flicks) played true to form and took me to the NY premiere of the latest Hugh Grant movie "Mickey Blue Eyes". Not my dream date, as you can imagine, but I love her, I miss her, what can I tell you?

So we are on our way into the theater and I just can't wait to get thru this and then get down to the real business of the evening. Hugh Grant and Liz Hurley paraded for the papparazi and besides Hurley's legs, my only diversion was gawking at Keith Richards whose face now looks - in terms of wrinkles and hair - like an unmentionable but sensitive part of a man's anatomy. We get into the theater, find our seats and then something weird happens.

The movie starts and Grant's up there cracking jokes and the whole place starts laughing and I'm thinking what the hell is wrong with these people - have they all been partying with Keith? And then something even weirder happens .. I start laughing. At first I'm so embarrassed I pretend I've got some kind of respiratory problems (this is NY in August) but pretty soon the game's up and I just go with it. Hell - maybe this is how I win back dream girl. And once I'm out of the closet (if you get my drift), all hell breaks loose.

Here's the truth - this is the hands down, no holds barred funniest movie I've seen all year. Hugh Grant is a guy working in an art auction place who wants to get engaged to a local girl (Jeannie Tripplehorn) but she won't do it because of her goombah daddy (James Caan). I know, I know, you've seen a lot this mob comedy stuff but this movie's so way different in tone you don't even notice. It's sort of British surreal humor a la Monty Python mixed with French farce, with a little Notting Hill type wit. Grant pretending to be a mobster and a Chinese restaurnat scene that has to go down as the biggest laughs I've heard in a movie theater - this thing just WORKS.

Grant does a lot of the stuff he's done before that hasn't always worked for me in the past but he also did a lot of real slapstick stuff that I've never seen him do before. Like - stripping his clothes off to distract Tripplehorn and there's a restaurant scene where he keeps dropping his gun on the floor - both scenes were really funny. James Caan besides being a movie legend, gives a great performance. damn funny in a playing it straight kind of way. It really seems like more comedy than romance so Tripplehorn has the least to do and I'm not a huge fan of her anyways. The rest of the cast - especially Burt Young as the big don are funny too.

Anyhow, the date turned out pretty great too, so I'm happy and I suppose I have the movie to thank for creating the right vibe. I haven't read much about this movie on the web, so I thought I'd just let you people know. The movie deserves it.