Main Cast: Peter Falk, Charles Durning, Wendy Hughes, Tom Courtenay, Joan Copeland
Release Year: 1987
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Happy New Year is an Americanized remake of the 1974 French film of the same name. Peter Falk and Charles Durning play Nick and Charlie, a pair of seedy but suave jewel thieves. Preparing to rob the exclusive Florida jewelry store managed by Tom Courtenay, Nick and Charlie meticulously pre-plan their heist, adopting a variety of false identities and silly costumes along the way. Unfortunately for our heroes, Nick becomes enamored of Caroline (Wendy Hughes, in her American film debut), the beautiful owner of the antique shop next door to the jewelry store. Nick's fascination with Caroline effectively scuttles his and Charlies' "perfect" crime. Claude Lelouch, writer/director of the original Happy New Year, appears in an amusing cameo role. Bedeviled with production problems, the Falk-Durning Happy New Year didn't see the light of day until nearly a year after its completion; after a fitful theatrical release, the film went straight to video, where it finally built up a following. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
It's hardly a masterpiece, but Happy New Year certainly deserved a better reception than it received upon its initial release. Happy is a heist caper comedy, and it's no classic, but it is an engaging little film whose modest charms will please many who stumble upon it late at night on TV or tucked away in the corner of their local video emporium. The screenplay to Happy is merely serviceable, but it does include a few imaginative assets. Chief among these is making the crooks in question not in the prime of their lives, which has certainly been done before but not so frequently, and in allowing Peter Falk's character to create two other (even older) characters , one of which is a woman -- again, it's been done before, but it pays dividends here. This is largely due to Falk's wonderful performance. It's the kind of part Falk does marvelously, bumbling but sly, confusing but charming, and his considerable comic skills are at their peak here. The actor grabs hold of the film and never lets it go, which is saying something considering that the very able Charles Durning is also in the picture, giving it everything he's got as well. And that's not even mentioning Tom Courtenay's deliciously fussy jewelry store owner, who manages to steal the spotlight for a moment or two. All in all, Happy is an enjoyable little film. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Tom Courtenay - Edward Sanders, Jewelry Store manager
Joan Copeland - Sunny Felix
Tracy Brooks Swope - Nina; Daniel Gerroll - Curator; Bruce Malmuth - Police Lieutenant; Peter Sellars - Dinner Guest; Anthony Heald - Dinner Guest; Claude Lelouch - Man on Train; Ted Bartsch - Doorman; Fritz Bronner - Steve; David English - Temptation; Dan Fitzgerald - Airline Ticket Clerk; Cloyce Morrow - Dinner Guest; Ruben Rabasa - Maitre D'; The Temptations; Clarence Thomas - Warden; Earleen Carey - Winston Sales Girl; Bonnie Timmermann; Bruce Kirby - Taxi Driver; Sal Carollo - Frankie G; Jackie Davis - Cabbie #1
Credit
William Matthews - Art Director, William J. Cassidy - Associate Producer, Bonnie Timmermann - Casting, Mary Lou Byrd - Costume Designer, Jodie Lynne Tillen - Costume Designer, Clifford C. Coleman - First Assistant Director, John G. Avildsen - Director, Bruce Malmuth - Second Unit Director, Jane Kurson - Editor, Allan Ruban - Executive Producer, Bill Conti - Composer (Music Score), Robert Laden - Makeup, William J. Cassidy - Production Designer, James A. Crabe - Cinematographer, Allan Ruban - Production Manager, Jerry Weintraub - Producer, Don Ivey - Set Designer, J.B. Jones - Special Effects, Nancy Dowd - Screenwriter, Warren Lane - Screenwriter, William McConnell - First Assistant Camera, Stephen A. Hope - Music Editor
