Review of Midnight Run (1988) by Ignacio L — 28 Jun 2011

Just a few years removed from his most grizzled, death-rattle-serious work, Robert De Niro decides to go after some lighter fare for a change of pace and realizes it's not a bad fit. As an ex-cop bounty hunter with good intentions, De Niro takes a potentially flavorless role and shapes it into something deeper, adding personality and character where it's clear none was hinted in the script.

Director Martin Brest deserves credit for allowing his cast the chance to ad-lib, as the film enjoys a much more honest, believable central relationship as a result. While the plot bears more than a passing resemblance to "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," it's more straight-laced than that and never completely steps across the line into full-on comedy, though it does test those boundaries once or twice.

An overachieving, tenuous buddy film in the same vein as "48 HRS", it maintains a quick pace on a winding path without throwing its passengers.