AUCTIONEERS RIP `MICKEY BLUE EYES'

AUCTIONEERS RIP `MICKEY BLUE EYES'

SAN FRANCISCO (Wireless Flash) -- Hugh Grant's mafia movie "Mickey Blue Eyes" is the subject of a hit -- but from auctioneers, not mobsters. It turns out Grant's performance as a professional art auctioneer is all wrong, according to Levi Morgan of San Francisco's Butterfield and Butterfield auction house. One scene that offends the auctioneers is a segment where Grant auctions off a tacky painting of Jesus and a machine gun made by a mob member. Morgan says unknown artists never get their work sold at public auction, because art collectors have no interest in the stuff. Another inaccurate scene shows Grant telegraphing signals to a little old lady who is bidding on objects -- despite the fact that it's unethical for an auctioneer to give a bidder any secret signals or signs. Authentic or not, "Mickey Blue Eyes" opens in theaters tomorrow (Aug. 20).