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From brown to 'blue'

Arizona Summer Wildcat Hugh Grant (center) stars in 'Mickey Blue Eyes'.

1999 seems to be the summer of Hugh Grant. 1) The 'English Fop' act is apparently trendy again in Hollywood. 2) He's managed to avoid anymore of that rather nasty arrest. 3) Grant's been able to shed his embarrassed-Englishman persona in exchange for his proper blubbering-in-a-charming-sort-of-way Englishman persona.

Basically, the Hugh Grant we all remember in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" is back.

The thing is, Grant has returned but in much the same way as he departed back on that fateful day in 1995 with the lovely Divine Brown.

Mickey Blue Eyes, Grant's second romantic comedy this summer, begins just as well as that paid encounter must have. The audience meets Michael (Grant), things seem to go well, the anticipation builds, it gets exciting, they're almost at the climax - and then the police arrive and everyone's left feeling a little "blue."

Granted, it is hard to not like the man. He is completely engaging on screen. And through most of this movie, you can simply sit back and enjoy him.

This is a man who is so much fun to watch, he is actually able to play off James Caan and make him seem charming. You see the first two-thirds of this movie, and you desperately want Grant to finish this movie off well.

But they went for the easy ending. A proper gentleman falls in love with a mobster's daughter and gets sucked into the "family." A mix-up occurs: Grant, his fiancee, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and her father, Caan, have to find a clever way out of their ordeal.

Unfortunately, if you have seen the Matthew Broderick/Marlon Brando movie, "The Freshman" (or I suppose if you simply watch the first two-thirds of this movie) you will easily be able to guess what the final outcome is.

It's really a shame too. Despite the simplicity of the plot, it was centered within a very funny spoof of the mafia. And the physical/vocal comedy performed by Grant was hysterical. You were embarrassed for him as he did it, but that was the point. Embarrassment is what he does best.

The rest of the cast was a terrific assortment of character actors also. Even Caan was likable. (He's a mafia man, but a good mafia man this time).

Everything was working for this movie, but they just couldn't finish it off.

In these days, when fellow sex offender Paul Reubens is reduced to playing "The Spleen" and George Michael CDs are placed on sale as soon as they come out, it begs the question why Grant too has been given another chance. Especially now that we see he has once again paid his money and petered out in the end. At least he hasn't been caught for a second offense.