My Blue Heaven (1990/I)

Director:

Herbert Ross

Writer (WGA):

Nora Ephron (written by)

Release Date:

17 August 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The stars of Parenthood in comedy about an urban hood finding suburbanhood.

Plot:

An all too uptight FBI agent must protect a larger than life mobster with a heart of gold, currently under witness protection in the suburbs.

Plot Keywords:

Ex Husband | Suburbia | Lawnmower | Fund Raiser | Witness Protection

Cast

Steve Martin	...	Vincent 'Vinnie' Antonelli
Rick Moranis	...	Barney Coopersmith
Joan Cusack	...	Hannah Stubbs
Melanie Mayron	...	Crystal Rybak
Bill Irwin	...	Kirby (as William Irwin)
Carol Kane	...	Shaldeen
William Hickey	...	Billy Sparrow
Deborah Rush	...	Linda
Daniel Stern	...	Will Stubbs
Jesse Bradford	...	Jamie
Corey Carrier	...	Tommie
Seth Jaffe	...	Umberto Mello
Robert Miranda	...	Lilo Mello
Ed Lauter	...	Underwood
Julie Bovasso	...	Vinnie's Mother
Colleen Camp	...	Dr. Margaret Snow Coopersmith
Gordon Currie	...	Wally Bunting
Raymond O'Connor	...	Dino
Troy Evans	...	Nicky
Dick Boccelli	...	Rocco
Ron Karabatsos	...	Ritchie
Tony DiBenedetto	...	Benny
Melissa Hurley	...	Angela
Leslie Cook	...	Marie
Darren Chuckry	...	Supermarket Manager
Duke Stroud	...	Supermarket Employee
Carol Ann Susi	...	Filomena
Frank Gio	...	Gaetano (as Frankie Gio)
Joel Polis	...	U.S. Attorney
Larry Block	...	Defense Attorney
Arthur Brauss	...	Judge
Greta Blackburn	...	Stewardess #1
Eva Charney	...	Stewardess #2
Ellen Albertini Dow	...	Nun
David Knell	...	Checker
John Harnagel	...	Motel Manager
LaWanda Page	...	Hotel Maid
Daniel Riordan	...	Removal Man
Thomas Wagner	...	Umpire
Jean Spray	...	Gatto
James Emery	...	FBI Man
Matt Roe	...	FBI Man
John Rogers	...	Policeman at Motel
Valerie Wildman	...	TV Reporter
Daniel Trent	...	Bailiff
Rudy E. Morrison	...	Maitre D'
Frank R. Roach	...	Judge
Jeff Fredricks	...	Booking Cop
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leonard Termo	...	(unconfirmed)
Gregory Schmauss	...	Policeman at Construction (uncredited)
Eric Stormoen	...	Ice Cream Sales Person (uncredited)

Directed by
Herbert Ross

Writing credits (WGA)
Nora Ephron		(written by)

Produced by
Joseph M. Caracciolo	....	co-producer
Nora Ephron	....	executive producer
Goldie Hawn	....	executive producer
Herbert Ross	....	producer
Andrew Stone	....	executive producer
Anthea Sylbert	....	producer

Original Music by
Ira Newborn

Cinematography by
John Bailey		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Robert M. Reitano		(as Robert Reitano)
Stephen A. Rotter

Casting by
Hank McCann

Production Design by
Charles Rosen

Art Direction by
Richard Berger

Set Decoration by
Donald J. Remacle

Costume Design by
Joseph G. Aulisi

Makeup Department
Fred Doria	....	makeup artist
Frank Griffin	....	makeup artist (as Frank Griffin Jr.)
Carol A. O'Connell	....	hair stylist
Daniel C. Striepeke	....	makeup artist
Toni-Ann Walker	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Andrew Stone	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Brian Faul	....	dga trainee
Ariel Levy	....	first assistant director
Barbara M. Ravis	....	second assistant director
Annie Spiegelman	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
James R. Bayliss	....	set designer
Barry Bedig	....	property master
Jason Bedig	....	swing gang
Gary A. Brewer	....	swing gang (as Gary Brewer)
Stan Cockerell	....	assistant property master
Larry Haney	....	lead man
Robert Maddy	....	set designer
Dave Margolin	....	stand-by painter (as David Margolin)
Stacey S. McIntosh	....	construction coordinator
Nick Navarro	....	set designer

Sound Department
Elisha Birnbaum	....	foley artist
Patricia Bowers	....	assistant sound editor
Kristine Bulakowski	....	assistant adr editor
Lee Dichter	....	sound re-recording mixer
David Grossack	....	assistant sound editor
Neil L. Kaufman	....	sound editor (as Neil Kaufmann)
Lionel LaVallee	....	boom operator
Jane McCulley	....	adr editor
Bitty O'Sullivan-Smith	....	sound editor
Al Overton Jr.	....	production sound mixer (as Al Overton)
Fred Rosenberg	....	dialogue editor
Dan Sable	....	supervising sound editor
Lynn Sable	....	assistant sound editor
Susan M. Wagner	....	assistant sound editor (as Susan Wagner)
Mark Lanza	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)
Dennis C. Salcedo	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Alan E. Lorimer	....	special effects coordinator

Stunts
Bruce Paul Barbour	....	stunts
Shelley S. Boyle	....	stunts
Robert Jauregui	....	stunts
Chrissy Monk	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Lou Barlia	....	camera operator
David Burnett	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Andrew Cooper	....	still photographer
Michael M. Krevitt	....	key grip
Mike Moyer	....	chief lighting technician
Michael Raspa	....	second assistant camera (as Mike Raspa)
Erwin Roodhart	....	best boy electric
Erwin Roodhart	....	gaffer
George R. Schrader	....	dolly grip
Donald E. Thorin Jr.	....	first assistant camera (as Don Thorin Jr)
Gil Valle	....	second company grip

Casting Department
Bill Dance	....	extras casting
Tina Real	....	extras casting: local (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gala Autumn	....	costumer
Kendall Errair	....	costumer
Robert M. Moore	....	costumer
Dennis Schoonderwoerd	....	costumer
Paki Wolfe	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
Richard Friedlander	....	first assistant editor
Alisa Lepselter	....	assistant editor
Robert Raring	....	color timer
Bob Sarles	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Daniel Allan Carlin	....	supervising music editor
Patrick Mullins	....	music editor
Steve Mccroskey	....	music editor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Richard Belyeu	....	transportation captain
James E. Foote	....	transportation coordinator
Jeff W. Smith	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Lori A. Balton	....	location scout
Jason Bourgault	....	production aide
Mary Delaney	....	production aide
Pam Ellington	....	production accountant (as Pamela Ellington)
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Barbara Freedman	....	production secretary
Charles Harrington	....	location manager
Spencer Henderson	....	assistant: Ms. Taylor-Corbett
Tina Hong	....	production aide
Eric Jacobson	....	production aide
Gail Martin-Sheridan	....	production accountant (as Gail Martin)
Seth Miller	....	production aide
Liz Newman	....	assistant production secretary (as Elizabeth Newman)
Jennifer Pinkham	....	assistant: Mr. Ross
Eve Roth	....	assistant: Mr. Ross
Richard W. Scarpone	....	craft service (as Richard Scarpone)
Lynne Taylor-Corbett	....	choreographer
Edna Tromans	....	unit publicist
Sib Ventress	....	production aide
Esther Vivante	....	script supervisor
Deborah Fine Yohai	....	production aide
Laurie Arnow-Epstein	....	construction accountant (uncredited)
Sara Burton	....	assistant location manager (uncredited)
Devron Conrad	....	stand-in: Steve Martin (uncredited)
Janis Corsair	....	adr loop group (uncredited)
Norman Fessler	....	stand-in: Rick Moranis (uncredited)
Steve Mccroskey	....	auricle programmer (uncredited)
Gail Rose	....	assistant production accountant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Hawn / Sylbert Movie Company
• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents) (as Warner Bros.)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1990) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1992) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Bill Dance Casting  extras casting

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Sweden:7 | USA:PG-13 | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Atascadero, California, USA

Company:

Hawn / Sylbert Movie Company

Trivia:

The baseball stadium at the end of the movie is George C. Page Stadium on the campus of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Stuntman visible when Vinnie jumps behind stacks of wood at the ballpark during the Christmas anecdote. He is visible in the bottom as Vinnie stands up with a gun.

Quotes:

Barney: Would you care to bet on that?
Hannah Stubbs: I never bet when I'm sure and right.
Barney: Presumably you haven't done a lot of betting considering you've only been wrong once in your life.
Hannah Stubbs: [glaring at Barney] Twice.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Steve Martin/Prince (#31.12)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

My Blue Heaven

Pure Heaven.

After a car is stolen by a gangster:

"And where did you learn to jump start a car?" "I had to learn to jump start ambulances to get invalids to the dialysis machines."

- Joan Cusack and Steve Martin, "My Blue Heaven."

There's a lot of fun to be found in "My Blue Heaven," a simple little comedy with only good intentions. I find it almost impossible to dislike - it has little offensive material, it isn't a stupid, recycled movie packaged with marketable trimmings. Instead, it is a joyful little flick that knows it is no Oscar winner but still tries to entertain its audience. And it does. "My Blue Heaven" is pure heaven for anyone who appreciates fine comedy - it's a little bit wacky, a little bit goofy, and very, very funny.

Steve Martin is perfectly cast as the wild and crazy Vincent Antonelli, a Mafia informer who has been entered into the Witness Protection Program. His wife wants no part of their new, cheery life in a suburban America so she leaves him early on. Rick Moranis is equally well-cast as Barney Coopersmith, the FBI agent assigned to protect Vinnie and make sure his new life is suitable to his comfort.

Barney's wife has just left him, too. She complains that he is too anal-retentive. She even mentions that he has a technique for getting equal amounts of butter on his waffles. Meanwhile, Vinnie soon tires of his new life and resorts to crime - first little things, such as marking down prices on meat in the local grocery store - which results in the best single line in the entire film, when a perky employee greets Vinnie. His response is a four-letter-word that isn't nearly as (c)rude as it seems it would be at first. Soon he meets up with old partners and crime and they form a new crime syndicate - much to the chagrin of a female police officer named Hannah Stubbs (Joan Cusack), who seems to be the perfect match for Barney Coopersmith.

Hannah is unable to prosecute Vinnie because he is a Federal Witness. At first she and Barney hate each other. Then they grow closer. Vinnie watches on with joyful interest. And what makes this movie so enjoyable, in part, is the chemistry between Martin and Moranis.

It's their first film together since "Parenthood." They're a good duo, and Martin is so out of character here you start to forget it's even him playing an Italian mobster. Compare Vincent Antonelli to Neal Page (Martin's character in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles"), and the difference in not only attitude but mannerisms and levels of intensity is clearly evident. Martin can play the middle-class American white male especially well, but this film clearly shows that he has not left his wacky background in such films as "The Jerk" far behind.

"My Blue Heaven" came out the same year as "Goodfellas" (1990). It was impeccable timing - at the end of "Goodfellas" we are left with the penetrating image of Ray Liotta's character Henry Hill outside a suburban home in a cheery neighborhood which, remarkably, looks exactly like the neighborhood in "My Blue Heaven." It could be argued that "My Blue Heaven" is an immediate sequel in some senses. Where "Goodfellas" left off "My Blue Heaven" starts - it just throws in some comedy. Which is why I don't understand its small impact when it first arrived in theaters. (Suffice to say, it sorta flopped.)

I own this film on a VHS tape I purchased for $4.99 at Wal-Mart. I found it lying in the bottom of a discount video barrel with no-name titles. There are comedic gems that have gained respect over the years, and then there are comedic gems that have slipped by unnoticed. "My Blue Heaven" wasn't very noticed upon its release in 1990, the few critics who saw it seemed not to pay any attention to it. Funny how some of the most joyful comedies slip by. My Blue Heaven" is a few laughs short of a comic masterpiece.

4.5/5.