Film Review - Mickey Blue Eyes

Former England middle-order batsman, John Morris, stars in this film as Mickey Blue Eyes in the tale of a moderately portly cricketer out of his depth when he starts going out with the daughter of a notorious outlaw.

Early on in the film, Mickey Blue Eyes meets Samantha Hood in the beer tent during a one-day international between England and the West Indies at Trent Bridge. This is partly a nod to Morris’ past career, but is also a clue as to the history of Samantha. For Samantha Hood is the daughter of none other than Robin Hood: He who stole from the rich to give to the poor. Robin Hood is played with conviction by Al Pacino who gives him an edgier side to his character than is often portrayed in other renditions of the myth.

The comedy arises from Mickey’s interaction with Robin Hood. Mickey just can’t get to grips with Hood’s vocabulary as Hood speaks in Middle English. This is something of a one joke film and that joke is taken to its extreme with one particular scene in which Robin Hood attempts to teach Mickey Middle English as they cower in the undergrowth in the depths of Sherwood Forest. Mickey just about manages to appreciate how the word ‘enthusiasm’ means ‘extreme religious excitement’ to Hood rather than its contemporary meaning, when Hood and his band of Merry Men accost a wealthy passer-by, relieving him of his Range Rover. Once again, despite his progress, Mickey is still the outsider.

The humour derived from the cross-cultural communication that occurs when people of different time periods converse was done much better in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.