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 |
|
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
Mickey Gordon is a professional basketball referee who flies to Paris to bury his father but is detained because his father's casket is missing.
Ellen Andrews, an employee of American Airlines, assists Mickey in retrieving the lost casket. She attends the funeral and they fall in love in the streets of Paris, but are separated when Mickey has to go back to America after his leave of absence.
They return to the reality of their normal lives, but cannot seem to forget Paris. Mickey and Ellen ultimately reunite and marry, but do not "live happily ever after" (at least, not immediately). They deal with common marriage issues such as: her father moving in with them, failed attempts at child conception, and each spouse unsuccessfully attempting a professional change to accommodate the other.
The film is told mostly in flashback by friends of the couple who gather at a restaurant. It delves into the hardships of marriage and keeping the romance alive in a 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, Bill Walton, 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]