The Hard Way (1991)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

John Badham

Writers (WGA):

Lem Dobbs (story) and
Michael Kozoll (story) ...

Release Date:

8 March 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

There's only one way these two are going to get along...

Plot:

An action film star researching a role is allowed to tag along with a hardboiled New York cop, who finds him superficial and irritating.

Plot Keywords:

Actor | Detective | Serial Killer | Movie Star | Police

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Michael J. Fox	...	Nick Lang / Ray Casanov
James Woods	...	Detective Lt. John Moss, NYPD
Stephen Lang	...	Party Crasher
Annabella Sciorra	...	Susan
John Capodice	...	Detective Grainy, NYPD
Luis Guzmán	...	Detective Benny Pooley, NYPD
LL Cool J	...	Detective Billy, NYPD
Mary Mara	...	Detective China, NYPD
Delroy Lindo	...	Captain Brix, NYPD
Conrad Roberts	...	Witherspoon, Gun Dealer
Penny Marshall	...	Angie, Nick's Agent
Christina Ricci	...	Bonnie
George Cheung	...	Drug Dealer
Frank Geraci	...	Newsman
Sophie Maletsky	...	Pizza Waitress

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:16 (w) | Italy:T | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:16 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Badham-Cohen Group, The

Trivia:

One of James Woods' perks was to have his own personal hairdresser, at a cost to the studio of $6000 a week. The average on-set hairdresser usually costs about a third of that.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After Nick "shoots" the policeman pretending to be a street guy during the staged confrontation, John says, "Jesus Christ, Mike, " to Nick (Michael J. Fox).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Operator: 9-1-1 Emergency.
Party Crasher: Hello there! It's me - again! Well, what can I say? I'm about to crash another party.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: Homer and Apu (#5.13)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

Runaround Sue

Works!

When I saw this, I didn't expect much from it. However, it turned out to be just great - it just happened so to press all the right buttons!

Michael J. Fox plays a PG-movie star (think Brendan Fraser) who wants to star in a serious cop flick. For this, he tags along with a real cop for a few days. But the real cop assigned to baby-sit him isn't exactly a fan of his, instead, he sees the wimsy character of Fox as a leech in his balls. This may sound like just any other buddy-movie "yea, they don't match from the starters but in the end, learn to get along", but give this little movie a chance, because: As bold as the casting, at least for what it comes to Fox, may sound, the chemistry really works here- you can almost see the sparks flying between the stars! Woods gives a powerhouse performance as a very "Dirty Harry" - like cop almost on the verge of a nervous breakdown because of his BS assignment. Fox is surprisingly good as his counter-part. And the directing is the usual good Badham- stuff, where a good action -comedy is spiced up with a little bad language and violent themes. I just don't understand how come he nowadays seems to have lost his touch? The man who did this and "Stakeout"? Even "Another stakeout" had it's moments...