My Blue Heaven

My Blue Heaven is a 1990 American crime comedy film directed by Herbert Ross, written by Nora Ephron, and starring Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, and Joan Cusack, released by Warner Bros. on August 17, 1990¹. Martin plays Vincent "Vinnie" Antonelli, a New York mobster who turns state's evidence and is relocated to a small California town under the Federal Witness Protection Program, where his inability to keep a low profile exasperates the by-the-books FBI agent guarding him (Moranis) and the local district attorney (Cusack)^{1 • 2}. The film is loosely based on the life of mob informant Henry Hill, whose story was also dramatized that same year in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas³.

Development and production

According to a May 27, 1990 Los Angeles Times Magazine article, executive producer and screenwriter Nora Ephron pitched the idea in late 1987 to actress Goldie Hawn, who was interested in playing the district attorney. Her premise: a mid-level gangster serving as a key murder witness is relocated by the Federal Witness Protection Program to a rural California town, and he unleashes a wave of crime there since lawbreaking is the sole skill he possesses.^{1 • 7}

Delays and recasting. The project went into development at Warner Bros. under production executive Allyn Stewart, but a twenty-two-week Writers Guild strike that began in March 1988 delayed Ephron's completion of the script. In early 1989 Hawn turned down the role, though she and her business partner Anthea Sylbert remained as executive producer and producer, respectively¹. Steve Martin initially expressed interest in playing the FBI agent; after Danny DeVito declined the gangster role, Ephron encouraged Martin to consider the lead instead. Herbert Ross became available as director when a different project was delayed¹.

Production began in October 1989, with Hollywood Reporter production charts listing November 5, 1989 as the starting date¹. In a February 1990 Film article, Ross said his aim was to go beyond escapist comedy, arguing that there is "safety and comfort [in] middle-class values" and that "at heart everybody is middle class," including a gangster who becomes a "pillar of the suburban community"¹.

The crew included cinematographer John Bailey, editors Stephen A. Rotter and Robert Reitano, production designer Charles Rosen, and composer Ira Newborn^{1 • 8}.

The Henry Hill connection

The film shares a source with Goodfellas. Henry Hill, a onetime associate of the Lucchese crime family, turned state's evidence and testified against his peers, and writer Nicholas Pileggi told his story in the 1985 book Wiseguy, the basis for Scorsese's film⁹. Ephron was Pileggi's wife, and My Blue Heaven was written as a kind of comic coda to the Scorsese picture, focusing on the witness-protection phase of such a life rather than the criminal career^{9 • 10}.

My Blue Heaven reached theaters in August 1990, about a month before Goodfellas' September release, so the two films, sprung from the same household, arrived almost together⁹. Both even reuse a specific Hill trait: the Hill character complains of ordering spaghetti and getting "egg noodles and ketchup"⁹.

Reception

Warner Bros. kept the film from critics before its opening, a practice usually reserved for movies a studio expects to review badly; the Deseret News critic Chris Hicks nonetheless called it "a delightful farce" with Martin and Moranis "in top form," while noting flaws including gags that fall flat and sluggishness in the final third⁶. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 71% Tomatometer from 21 reviews and a 59% Popcornmeter audience score from more than 10,000 ratings; it grossed $22.8 million in the United States². Later critical summaries describe it as a broad, fast-paced comedy that leans on gangster-comedy clichés while letting the cast have fun with them².

Home media and availability

The film was released on DVD on May 18, 1999, and Warner Home Video issued a Blu-ray in 2017 with 1080p high-definition video in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and DTS-HD Master Audio English 2.0 stereo^{11 • 12}.

Current streaming status. As of late 2026, the film is not included with any streaming subscription in any of the 51 regions tracked by FlickFinder, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada¹³. In the United States it can be rented for $3.99 or bought from $9.99 on Amazon Video, the Apple TV Store, and Fandango At Home⁵. In Germany, where the film reached theaters on January 9, 1992, it is available for rental from €3.99 on Prime Video, iTunes, and Videoload¹⁴. Streaming rights are licensed country by country, so availability differs by market even for the same service¹³.

References

1. My Blue Heaven (1990), AFI Catalog of Feature Films
2. My Blue Heaven, Rotten Tomatoes
3. My Blue Heaven Digital, Blu-ray.com
4. My Blue Heaven (1990) Full Cast & Crew, IMDb
5. My Blue Heaven streaming: where to watch online?, JustWatch
6. 'My Blue Heaven' Likely Will Leave Viewers Tickled Pink with Martin, Moranis, Deseret News (Aug 19, 1990)
7. The Movies: The Fine Art of Making the Deal, Los Angeles Times (May 27, 1990)
8. My Blue Heaven, American Film Institute streaming
9. 'My Blue Heaven,' Steve Martin's Comedic, Spiritual Sequel to 'Goodfellas', Mental Floss
10. Cinema: Married to The Mob, Time (Sep 24, 1990)
11. My Blue Heaven Where to Watch, Moviefone
12. My blue heaven, Metropolitan Library System catalog
13. Where to watch My Blue Heaven (1990), FlickFinder
14. My Blue Heaven (1990) · Stream, Kino.de

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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