“Aren’t You Gonna Die Someday?” Elaine May's Mikey and Nicky: An Examination, Reflection, and Making Of

Excellent book that is at once personal and critical of gut-wrenching masterpiece by one of America’s most underrated maverick film directors. A thoroughly exhausting scene by scene breakdown, histories of the actors and director’s working methods, an extraordinary document of a time in American mainstream filmmaking when avant garde thinkers and bold actors took chances in the name of art and perhaps something else altogether unattainable. The book makes no bones about admiring the film and yet it does not come off without objectivity and criticism. Cooper has done a remarkable job and I salute him. I think he himself would make a fine dramatist— his observations and deductions on human motivation, frailty, and vulnerability is simple and straightforward and genuine. He also likes people or wants to like them and that is why he understands drama. And in this case a complex masterpiece such as “Mikey and Nicky.” Low brow to high brow and all ideas in between Cooper has it covered with his down to earth writing style and deep appreciation for all that a movie can be. We need more passionate writers on the arts and...perhaps more passionate artists like Elaine May and Peter Falk and John Cassavetes...for writers to write ABOUT!

I saw this when it came out in 76 . though elaine may was the director , the influence of john Cassavetes was apparent . hes terrific as nicky and his pal peter falk was also great as mikey . though primarily known as a director and the godfather of independent cinema , Cassavetes was also a great actor . in 76 he didn't appear in but directed the killing of a Chinese bookie , making 76 the seminal year in his career . neither film did well at the box office , but have become cult classics . I liked the way the author saw comparisons to a friendship in his own life to the same unspoken , passive aggressive tendencies in the films characters relationship , and that some of us have experienced in our own friendships as well . Cassavetes is an acquired taste , but if you develop it , it tastes great .