My Blue Heaven (1990) on Netflix
Barney Coopersmith, a federal agent, is assigned to watch over Vinnie Antonelli, a former mobster in a San Diego suburb under witness protection. Vinnie struggles to keep a low profile.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.3/1024,302 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes71%
Trailer
Plot summary
Vinnie Antonelli leaves New York City for a suburb near San Diego, where the Federal Witness Protection Program has placed him and his wife Linda in exchange for his testimony against the mob. He answers to Barney Coopersmith, the federal agent assigned to keep him out of sight and out of trouble. Vinnie instead slips back into his old dishonest ways, and when he inadvertently steals a car he is taken to the police station. Hannah Stubbs, the assistant district attorney, questions him there, and he answers with a string of invented stories. Barney posts his bail and, showing his credentials, tells Hannah she cannot arraign Vinnie because he is due in court to testify against mob figures.
Cast
- Seth Jaffeas Umberto Mello
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about My Blue Heaven (1990)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- My Blue Heaven and Goodfellas, released a month apart, are both based on the life of Henry Hill. Goodfellas came from Nicholas Pileggi's book Wiseguy, while My Blue Heaven was written by Pileggi's wife Nora Ephron, and much of the research for both was done in the same sessions with Hill.
- Steve Martin first expressed interest in portraying the FBI agent, but after Danny DeVito turned down the gangster role, Ephron suggested Martin consider the lead instead; Arnold Schwarzenegger had been cast as Antonelli before leaving for the lead role in Kindergarten Cop.
- Goldie Hawn initially expressed interest in the role of the district attorney, but a Writers Guild strike lasting twenty-two weeks began in March 1988 and delayed Ephron's script; in early 1989 Hawn declined the role, staying on as executive producer with her business partner Anthea Sylbert as producer.
- A pivotal moment in the character's creation came when Martin introduced an old costume from his former nightclub act, a "shiny, silver-gray jacket"; costume designer Joe Aulisi then crafted twenty-two light-colored designer suits in silks and sharkskins for the lounge-lizard look.
- The ending changed late in the day: during post-production the close of the story underwent a modification to adopt a "kinder, gentler ending".
