Hugh Grant stretches his wings as a straight-arrow British auctioneer who falls in love with the daughter of a mob boss.

Grant's enigmatic style and comic timing has pushed him to the forefront of Hollywood's romantic comedy leading men. In Mickey Blue Eyes, he delivers a reason why Hollywood has taken notice of his British charms. He is sweet, coy, and enduringly naïve. The Italian culture and its mob connections interacting with his naïve British persona make for wonderful comedy but it's also the movie's downfall. I think that it's the serious tone in which the mob related activities are taken that pulls the movie down. As soon as the first shot is fired Grant's character turns from naïve to real dumb resulting in a very cliched ending.

Mickey Blue Eyes does remind me a lot of Grant's previous solo effort "Nine Months" which he starred with Julianne Moore. In the case that the laughs didn't keep coming as the subject matter got more serious.

(3.5 of 5) So Says the Soothsayer.