My Blue Heaven is really, really cute. There's nothing particularly original about it, but somehow, Nora Ephron's delightful script still feels fresh. In essence, polar opposites become friends and the "fun one" helps the "uptight one" loosen up and learn how to really live. Rick Moranis is an FBI agent, tasked with relocating a New York mobster, Steve Martin, into a San Diego suburb before he testifies in court. Steve isn't exactly a quiet witness, and Rick spends more time than he'd like keeping him out of trouble.
There are so many sweet elements to this movie, all fitting into the setting and the title. In the quintessential suburb with Little League baseball and friendly grocery store workers, nothing ever goes wrong. The DA, Joan Cusack, isn't used to any crime being committed, so when Steve starts looking for angles, she's quite anxious to throw him behind bars. Scene breaks segment the movie with a little title card telling the audience what's about to happen-"I amaze everyone," or "Mrs. Stubbs has her problems, too," for example-with an instrumental of the title song. The sweetness of the town isn't so saccharine that it gets on the audience's nerves, Steve Martin's gangster persona isn't so over-the-top that he's ridiculous, and Rick Moranis's character isn't so hopeless that the audience thinks he's just a stereotype. In the beginning of the movie, his wife leaves him and criticizes his "system" for eating pancakes; but when Rick explains that he merely likes the bottom pancake to have as much syrup as the top pancake, it makes sense!
Right away, you're rooting for him to find love again and for him and Steve to become friends. Throughout the movie, Steve opens his eyes to the important worlds of fashion, heavy tipping, and dancing, so he's able to sweep the woman of his choice off her feet. There are so many cute scenes highlighting both leads: Steve insists on fingerprinting himself at the police station because he's faster at it than the cop; Rick learns how to merengue and ends up dancing on the beach with Joan!
Give this movie a shot. It's very funny, and it's got that lovely, clean '90s charm that movies made today don't have. After this, rent Little Shop of Horrors for a fun weekend marathon!
