Directed by Herbert Ross (Footloose, Steel Magnolias)

Written by Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally, also wrote/directed You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, Julie and Julia)

Starring Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, Joan Cusack

Synopsis: “An all too uptight FBI agent (Moranis) must protect a larger than life mobster with a heart of gold (Martin), currently under witness protection in the suburbs.”

I watched this movie a few weeks ago, and it was pretty entertaining. Rick Moranis is great. I really wish he was still actively working in Hollywood. Otherwise, the movie was just okay. Steve Martin definitely had his moments, but the really interesting thing about this movie is the backstory, and how, though it came out the previous year, it is (kind of) a sequel to Goodfellas.

The story essentially picks up where Goodfellas leaves off, with a reputed gangster stuck in the middle of suburbia, missing the glamor and rush of his criminal lifestyle. There is a goofy subplot about a budding romance between Rick Moranis’ timid FBI agent and Joan Cusack’s uptight District Attorney, but primarily I would say it is a buddy film. The story focuses on Moranis trying to keep Martin’s character out of trouble long enough to testify against his former associates, and along the way they forge their own friendship. Now back to the Goodfellas connection. The film was written by Nora Ephron, mostly know for a slew of romantic comedy staples listed above, but she also happens to be the wife of Nicholas Pileggi, screenwriter of Goodfellas and Casino. On top of that, the film was apparently written using information from the same interview sessions with ex-mafioso Henry Hill that Goodfellas was based on (according to Wikipedia). So maybe not the best movie, but to see such a different take based on the same material… pretty interesting.