A TOUGH BOUNTY HUNTER. A SENSITIVE CRIMINAL.

Bounty hunter Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) finds a runaway Mafia accountant (Charles Grodin) in New York and is set to take him to Los Angeles; he will face competition from the FBI, the Las Vegas mob and a rival bounty hunter.

Four years after Beverly Hills Cop (1984), director Martin Brest delivered another hugely enjoyable action-comedy that balances those ingredients perfectly. The concept is simple, with an odd couple forced to rely on each other, and the two leads are great fun to watch. Neither of them fall prey to the temptation of playing it “funny”; it’s their straight-faced bickering that brings out the laughs.

Great supporting cast; the music also lifts the spirit.

1988-U.S. 122 min. Color. Produced and directed by Martin Brest. Screenplay: George Gallo. Music: Danny Elfman. Cast: Robert De Niro (Jack Walsh), Charles Grodin (Jonathan Mardukas), Yaphet Kotto (Alonzo Mosely), John Ashton, Dennis Farina, Joe Pantoliano, Philip Baker Hall. 

Trivia: Cher and Robin Williams were considered for the part of Mardukas. Followed by three TV movies in 1994.

Last word: “I’ve always lost weight on movies because I got nervous and I stopped eating. I would just get so anxious, my appetite would get suppressed and I would get very thin. When I was finished my American Film Institute movie [Hot Tomorrows], I weighed 118 pounds. Midnight Run was very grueling. It shot for almost a hundred days, and it was six-day weeks with the seventh day, either a travel day or a travel and scouting day, because we were in 14 different cities, constantly moving. After we were finished, I actually had to go to the hospital.” (Brest, Variety)