Happy New Year is an Americanized remake of the 1974 French film of the same name. Peter Falk and Charles Durning play Nick and Charlie, a pair of seedy but suave jewel thieves. Preparing to rob the exclusive Florida jewelry store managed by Tom Courtenay, Nick and Charlie meticulously pre-plan their heist, adopting a variety of false identities and silly costumes along the way. Unfortunately for our heroes, Nick becomes enamored of Caroline (Wendy Hughes, in her American film debut), the beautiful owner of the antique shop next door to the jewelry store. Nick's fascination with Caroline effectively scuttles his and Charlies' "perfect" crime. Claude Lelouch, writer/director of the original Happy New Year, appears in an amusing cameo role. Bedeviled with production problems, the Falk-Durning Happy New Year didn't see the light of day until nearly a year after its completion; after a fitful theatrical release, the film went straight to video, where it finally built up a following.


Happy New Year is a 1987 film starring Peter Falk, directed by John G. Avildsen. The screenplay was written by Warren Lane, based on the French film La bonne année. The director of the French film, Claude Lelouch, has a cameo as a man on a train.
Although the film had extremely limited success in the theaters, it became something of a cult film.[1] It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1988 for best makeup, losing to Harry and the Hendersons.[2] Bill Conti composed the score and produced a cover of the song I Only Have Eyes for You performed by The Temptations which was featured extensively throughout the film.

Vincent Canby of The New York Times disliked the film, as he had the original, but had praise for the actors:
“ Happy New Year didn't look very original or very funny back in 1973, when the original French film, written and directed by Claude Lelouch, opened in New York. The curious thing about the American remake is that although it's no better, it's certainly not worse... the new film has the advantage of good comic performances by Peter Falk, as the brains of the jewel heist, Charles Durning, as his partner, and Wendy Hughes... The new version also has the advantage of the comic presence of Tom Courtenay, who plays the fastidious manager of the jewelry store and shares the film's funniest moments with Mr. Falk. These are the sequences in which Mr. Falk cases the store disguised, alternately, as a doddering Palm Beach socialite and the socialite's flirtatious, battleship-shaped sister. It's first-rate revue-sketch material. Everything else is vamping for time.[3] ”
Gene Siskel, on the other hand, wrote in the The Chicago Tribune on Aug. 22, 1987: "In 'Happy New Year' you will see one of Falk's finest comic performances, a clever caper, a pair of masterful masquerades and a sweet love story."


Release Date: August 7, 1987

Distrib: Columbia Pictures


Boxoffice: $41,232 2013: $84,900