Forget Paris
| Forget Paris | |
|---|---|
Promotional movie poster for the film
|
|
| Directed by | Billy Crystal |
| Produced by | Billy Crystal |
| Written by | Billy Crystal Lowell Ganz Babaloo Mandel |
| Starring | Billy Crystal Debra Winger Joe Mantegna Julie Kavner Cynthia Stevenson Richard Masur |
| Music by | Marc Shaiman |
| Cinematography | Don Burgess |
| Edited by | Kent Beyda |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
|
Release dates
|
<templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
|
Running time
|
101 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $21 million |
| Box office | $33,177,694 |
Forget Paris is a 1995 romantic comedy film produced, directed, co-written by and starring Billy Crystal as an NBA referee and Debra Winger as an independent working woman whose lives are interrupted by love and marriage.
It also stars Joe Mantegna, Julie Kavner, Cynthia Stevenson, Richard Masur, Cathy Moriarty and John Spencer. A number of professional basketball players, present and past, appear as themselves.
Plot
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. At a restaurant in New York City, Andy (Joe Mantegna) prepares to introduce his friends to his fiancée, Liz (Cynthia Stevenson). As the couple waits for the rest of the party to arrive, Andy begins telling Liz the strange story of how his friends Mickey (Billy Crystal) and Ellen (Debra Winger) came to know each other and fall in love. As each of Andy's friends arrive, more of the story is unfolded to Liz.
Mickey Gordon is a National Basketball Association (NBA) referee who honors his recently-deceased father's wishes by burying him at the resting site of his World War II Army platoon in France, of which he was the sole survivor. However, Mickey's plans are delayed for several days after the airline misplaces the casket.
Ellen Andrews, an airline employee from Wichita working in Paris, assists Mickey in locating and retrieving the lost casket. She surprises Mickey by attending the burial in the French countryside so he won't be alone. Mickey rides back to Paris with Ellen, and the two get to know each other better along the way. Mickey spontaneously decides to delay his return trip to the United States to spend more time with Ellen. The two fall in love in the streets of Paris, but after a week together, Mickey is forced to return to the United States for the beginning of the NBA season.
Constantly thinking about his time in Paris, Mickey's loneliness leads him to lose his temper during a nationally-televised game. As a result of the tirade, Mickey is suspended by the NBA for a week. During the suspension, he returns to Paris to see Ellen. Soon after he arrives, Mickey learns Ellen is married but separated, and is unsure if she and her husband will get back together. Brokenhearted, Mickey returns to America. While Mickey is in Charlotte to referee a game, Ellen arrives unexpectedly to meet him and reveals that she has gotten a divorce. Having quit her job in France, Ellen marries Mickey. After a honeymoon period spent on the road during the NBA season, the couple settles in the San Fernando Valley outside Mickey's hometown of Los Angeles.
When the next basketball season begins, Ellen takes an entry-level customer service job with American Airlines, while Mickey travels with the NBA. Hating her new job and only seeing Mickey a few days each month, Ellen becomes lonely and depressed. She asks Mickey to quit his job; he compromises by taking a one-year leave of absence and briefly working as a car salesman. However, Ellen quickly gets promoted and climbs the corporate ladder, leaving Mickey at home to tend to her aging and irritating father, Arthur (William Hickey).
Dealing with common marital issues, including the incongruity of their professional lives and the inability to conceive a child, the two begin to emotionally drift apart. Mickey, unhappy at home with Arthur, decides to return early to the NBA. He comes home from a road trip to find Ellen gone. Before he can read her note, she arrives and explains that she had simply returned to Kansas to deliver Arthur to her siblings so she and Mickey can finally be alone and attempt to repair their marriage.
Shortly thereafter, Ellen approaches Mickey and says she has been offered a transfer to Dallas. Mickey refuses to move away from California, so Ellen takes the airline's other offer of a transfer to Paris. Now separated, the two are seemingly content in their original arrangements: Mickey traveling with the NBA, and Ellen working for an airline in Paris. However, it is obvious to all of their friends that they miss each other's company.
At the restaurant, Andy's friends have caught Liz up to date on the entire story as they know it, with the latest development coming four months prior. A basketball fan enters the restaurant and informs the group of an odd occurrence during the traditional singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" prior to that night's New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. Mickey decides to go AWOL from his job and immediately return to Paris to find Ellen. Before he can make it across the basketball court, however, he spots Ellen in the arena. The two meet and reconcile at mid-court, and as the arena lights come on after the anthem, the entire crowd sees the two kissing.
As the man finishes telling the story, Mickey and Ellen arrive at the restaurant together (surprising the rest of the party, who still believed them to be separated) and begin to re-tell Liz the entire story of their relationship.
Cast
- Billy Crystal as Mickey Gordon
- Debra Winger as Ellen Andrews Gordon
- Joe Mantegna as Andy
- Julie Kavner as Lucy
- Cynthia Stevenson as Liz
- Richard Masur as Craig
- William Hickey as Arthur
- John Spencer as Jack
- Tom Wright as Tommy
- Cathy Moriarty as Lois
- Johnny Williams as Lou
- Robert Costanzo as Waiter
- Dan Castellaneta as man testing car (uncredited)
As themselves
- Marv Albert
- Bill Walton
- Charles Barkley
- David Robinson
- Dan Majerle
- Kevin Johnson
- Paul Westphal
- Sean Elliott
- Patrick Ewing
- Tim Hardaway
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Bill Laimbeer
- Reggie Miller
- Chris Mullin
- Charles Oakley
- Kurt Rambis
- John Starks
- Isiah Thomas
- Spud Webb
- Marques Johnson
- Rush Limbaugh
- David Sanborn
Reception
Forget Paris received mixed reviews from critics, as the film holds a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 34 reviews.
NBA Cameos
During scenes in which Mickey is working as a referee, several professional basketball players play themselves.
David Robinson and the San Antonio Spurs play Charles Barkley, Dan Majerle and the Phoenix Suns in a crucial game of the Western Conference Finals. Also in this scene is Kevin Johnson and the Suns coach at the time, Paul Westphal.
Mickey also officiates a Los Angeles Lakers-Detroit Pistons game during Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's final season. Having a "bad day," Mickey throws Kareem out of the game for no apparent reason, then does the same to Detroit Pistons star Isiah Thomas, and then the entire roster of both teams.
Also seen are Reggie Miller, Tim Hardaway, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Chris Mullin, Spud Webb (to whom Mickey says, "You're the only one I can talk to,"—both Webb and Billy Crystal are 5'7" tall), Bill Laimbeer, Kurt Rambis, Charles Oakley, Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman, Sean Elliott, Marques Johnson and, while Mickey was watching a game at home on his couch, Michael Jordan on television.[1]
NBA broadcasters Marv Albert and Bill Walton also appear.
