Review of Midnight Run (1988) by Yorkman — 30 Jun 2016

In 1988 the idea of multi Academy Award winning actor Robert De Niro starring in an R-rated comedy must have seemed like a step too far outside even his comfort zone. But, ol' Bobby pulls it off and not only creates one of his most memorable characters, he also is incredibly funny!

De Niro plays Jack Walsh, an ex-New York undercover narcotics officer who now works as a Bounty Hunter. His boss, Eddie Moscone (Joe Pantoliano) offers him $100,000 to bring in Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas (Charles Grodin) an accountant for the Mob who embezzled several million and was picked up on a minor charge and subsequently bailed.

Walsh agrees and quickly tracks The Duke down to L.A. Walsh hopes he can just board a plane with him and head back, but The Duke has other ideas!

Things are (hilariously) complicated by the fact that both the Mob and the FBI also want The Duke, plus Moscone sending out another (rather inept) bounty hunter to get The Duke when Walsh's initial plans fail.

What follows is essentially a comedic road trip with car chases, gunfights, helicopters etc, all interspersed with masses of profanity and real belly laughs. Every character (and thus actor) works hard for those laughs, and whilst not every joke 'hits', the hit/miss ratio is still incredibly high.

As the cross-country escapade keeps on escalating, Walsh and The Duke develop a deep understanding and friendship, and leads to a schmaltzy ending that is definitely earnt.

The film is only let down by some unnecessary over-sentimentality, but it's more of a niggle than a real 'this is an aspect of the film I can't deal with'.