Forget Paris

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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 Cynthia Stevenson Richard Masur
Music by	Marc Shaiman
Cinematography	Don Burgess
Editing by	Kent Beyda
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	1995
Running time	101 min.
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Forget Paris is a 1995 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 Julie Kavner, Joe Mantegna, Richard Masur, Cynthia Stevenson and Cathy Moriarty. It's a comedy about a man and woman learning to compromise.

1 Plot
2 Selected Cast
3 NBA Star Cameos
4 External links

[edit] Plot

Mickey Gordon (Billy Crystal) is an NBA referee living the single life, who loves to travel and have fun. He flies to Paris to bury his father, but is detained because his father's casket is missing upon arrival.

Ellen Andrews (Winger), an employee of the international airport, assists Mickey in retrieving the lost casket. They fall in love in the streets of Paris, but are separated when Mickey's father is found.

They return to the reality of their normal lives, but can not seem to forget Paris. They ultimately reunite and marry - but do not "live happily ever after" (at least, not immediately).

The film, told mostly in flashback by friends of the couple who gather at a restaurant, delves into the hardships of marriage and keeping the romance alive in a relationship.

Without making any overt political or ideological statements, the film could be considered as evidence to the success of some feminist ideas - since it takes for granted, as films in earlier decades would not have, that for the marriage to succeed, both Mickey and Ellen must be able to fully develop their respective careers in the NBA and the airports. Without this basic assumption, there would not have existed the dilemmas with which they grapple throughout the film (and for which they evidently find a mutually satisfying compromise in the end).

[edit] Selected Cast

Billy Crystal as Mickey Gordon
Debra Winger as Ellen Andrews Gordon
Joe Mantegna as Andy
Cynthia Stevenson as Liz
Richard Masur as Craig
Julie Kavner as Lucy
William Hickey as Arthur
John Spencer as Jack
Tom Wright as Tommy
Cathy Moriarty as Lois
Johnny Williams as Lou
Robert Costanzo as Waiter

[edit] NBA Star Cameos

During the scenes in which Mickey is working as a ref in the NBA, there are several real NBA players who play themselves.

In the beginning of the movie, David Robinson and the San Antonio Spurs are playing 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.

Later during the film, Mickey is an official in Kareem Abdul Jabbar's final game of his career. Due to him 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 making some highlight plays are Reggie Miller, Tim Hardaway, Patrick Ewing, John Starks,Chris Mullin, 5 foot 7 guard Spud Webb, 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]