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Midnight Run is a 1988 American action/comedy/buddy film starring Robert De Niro as a bounty hunter and Charles Grodin as his prisoner. The film's title originates from a bounty hunter phrase that refers to a task that is relatively easy.
The film was later followed by three made-for-TV movies produced in 1994, which did not feature any of the principal actors, although a few characters are carried over from the first film.
Discussion
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Quotations
Jack, to the Duke, sitting in first class on the L.A.-bound plane: Better class of people. Your class. Probably all embezzlers too!
The Duke, upon finding out on Thursday afternoon that Jack has an ulcer: That's because you have two forms of expression: Silence and rage!
Jack, trying to tell Eddie on Monday morning that he doesn't want to take the Mardukas case and that he'd rather get out of the business: Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm kind of tired getting shot at.
Encyclopedia
Midnight Run is a 1988 American action/comedy/buddy film starring Robert De Niro as a bounty hunter and Charles Grodin as his prisoner. The film's title originates from a bounty hunter phrase that refers to a task that is relatively easy.
The film was later followed by three made-for-TV movies produced in 1994, which did not feature any of the principal actors, although a few characters are carried over from the first film. The sequels also had a much lighter tone than the original film, and did not seem to directly follow the canon established in the first film.
Plot
Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas (Grodin) is an accountant who embezzled $15 million from Las Vegas gangster Jimmy Serrano (Farina) and skipped bail. He is hiding in New York when his Los Angeles bail bondsman, Eddie Moscone (Pantoliano), hires Jack Walsh (De Niro), a former Chicago police officer now earning a living as a bounty hunter, to bring the accountant back to L.A. "It's an easy gig, it's a midnight run," he promises. To get the $100,000 bounty, Walsh needs to get Mardukas back to L.A. before midnight on Friday, at which time Moscone forfeits the bail money he put up.
The FBI, led by the eternally put-upon Special Agent Alonzo Mosely (Kotto), want Mardukas under arrest to build their case against Serrano. Mosely warns Walsh not to interfere with his plans, but Walsh, under the pretense of accepting, pays no attention, and instead pinches Mosely's identification. Serrano, meanwhile, knows that Mardukas has access to financial information that could lead to his conviction, and has no intention of allowing him to live long enough to make that happen.
After tracing and grabbing Mardukas in Manhattan, Walsh is unable to take Mardukas to L.A. by plane due to Mardukas's professed fear of flying, which gets them thrown off their transcontinental flight. The pair embark on a wild cross-country chase (with Mardukas even temporarily piloting a plane, proving that his fear of flying was a ruse), relying on various unreliable modes of transportation, all the while dodging the FBI, Serrano's idiotic goons Tony (Richard Foronjy) and Joey (Robert Miranda) and rival bounty hunter Marvin Dorfler (John Ashton), hired by Moscone as insurance, but whom Moscone offers $25,000, claiming he offered the same to Walsh.
Walsh and Mardukas bicker constantly, due to the clash of Walsh's rough-hewn personality and Mardukas's habit of nagging. Much of the movie involves Mardukas's sincere effort to uncover the truth about his captor, a person he suspects is actually a decent man beneath the violent behavior and 10-pack-a-day cigarette habit. He eventually learns that Walsh was a former Chicago undercover detective who refused to go on the take of a heroin dealer he tried to arrest, and was drummed out of the force after being framed for heroin possession by a colleague and driven out of Chicago. His wife ended up remarrying the lieutenant who fired him, and Walsh hasn't seen his daughter since she was a little girl. The gangster responsible for "the payroll" was Jimmy Serrano himself. Walsh, for his part, wants to see the job done so he can open a coffee shop with his promised $100,000 bounty, much to Mardukas's disgust.
After making it as far as Arizona, the two are chased by dozens of police cars. They narrowly dodge the police, but Mardukas is captured by Marvin. Finally figuring out how much Mardukas is actually worth, Marvin decides to give him up to Tony and Joey for $1 million. However, Marvin inadvertently reveals where Mardukas is, and Mardukas is captured by Serrano's men.
Walsh, meanwhile, is finally found by Mosely and his men, and taken into custody. An enraged Walsh calls Moscone and furiously berates him for hiring Marvin as insurance. Moscone, however, reveals that Marvin is not delivering Mardukas to him, since he discovered that he had offered Walsh $100,000 while offering him $25,000. Realizing that Marvin has delivered Mardukas to Serrano, Walsh calls Serrano's men and tells them that Mardukas gave him computer disks with enough information to put Serrano away. Walsh threatens to turn the disks over to the FBI unless Serrano himself returns Mardukas to him at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Walsh tells Mosely and the FBI of his plan to deliver Serrano to them, but will only carry it out if Mosely promises to hand Mardukas over to him to return to Moscone and collect his money. Mosely, since his primary target is Serrano, accepts.
At the airport, Serrano and Walsh confront each other for the first time since Walsh left Chicago. The exchange is interrupted by Marvin, who sees the exchange going on, not knowing that the FBI are watching and waiting for Serrano to take possession of the disks (even though the disks have nothing on them, Serrano's taking possession of them would be enough to indict him). Walsh, whose microphone wire gets knocked out by Marvin, yells to the FBI that Serrano has the disks. The FBI move in, arresting Serrano, his men, and Marvin.
As bargained with Mosely, Walsh takes Mardukas back to Los Angeles. After calling Moscone and telling him he has "The Duke" in L.A. before the deadline, Walsh then tells Moscone that he is letting Mardukas go, since Serrano is now behind bars. Before Walsh can leave, they exchange gifts - Walsh hands Mardukas his broken watch (a gift from his ex-wife when they first started dating, indicating Mardukas was the one who finally showed him that holding onto hope of being with her was foolish), and Mardukas hands Walsh his money belt - filled with $300,000 in $1,000 bills. Mardukas was planning on leaving before Walsh showed up, so he didn't have time to use the money. The two part as friends, telling each other a line they repeated: "See you in the next life." Mardukas then disappears, and Walsh tries to get a cab. However, since the cabbie doesn't have "change for a thousand," Walsh pulls up his collar. "Looks like I'm walkin'."
Cast
Production
After completing The Untouchables, De Niro wanted to try something different and decided on appearing in a comedy. He pursued the lead role in Penny Marshall's film, Big. Marshall was interested but the studio was not and the role went to Tom Hanks. Martin Brest, who directed Beverly Hills Cop, had developed a script with George Gallo that blended elements of comedy and action. Paramount Pictures was originally interested in backing Midnight Run, but they wanted a big name star opposite De Niro in order to improve the film's chances at the box office. Their production executives suggested that the Mardukas character be changed to a woman and wanted Cher for the role in the hope she would provide some "sexual overtones". When Brest rejected the idea, Paramount suggested teaming De Niro up with Robin Williams, who became eager to get the role and offered to audition for Brest. However, Brest was impressed by Charles Grodin's audition with De Niro. The director felt that there was a real chemistry between the two actors. As a result, Paramount backed out and their UIP partner Universal Studios became interested in the project. Paramount president Ned Tanen claimed that the budget became too high and he decided that "it wasn't worth it".
To research for his role, De Niro worked with real-life bounty hunters and police officers. As Jack uncuffs the Duke on the train, the Duke says, "Thanks, 'cause they're starting to cut into my wrists.'" In fact, Grodin has permanent scars resulting from the handcuffs he had to wear for most of the film. In the scene where Grodin fell off a cliff, it was shot on location in the Salt River in Arizona and the conclusion, taking place in rapids, was shot in New Zealand because the water was too cold in Arizona.
Universal invested $15 million in a print and television advertising campaign.
Reaction
Box office
Midnight Run was released on July 22, 1988 in 1,158 theaters grossing USD $5.5 million in its opening weekend. It went on to make $38.4 million in North America and $43.2 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $81.6 million.
Reviews
Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "What Midnight Run does with these two characters is astonishing, because it's accomplished within the structure of a comic thriller ... It's rare for a thriller to end with a scene of genuinely moving intimacy, but this one does, and it earns it". In his review for the Globe and Mail, Jay Scott praised the performances: "De Niro has the time of his acting life lightening up and sending up all those raging bulls that won him all those Oscars ... Charles Grodin, master of the double-take and maestro of the slow burn, the best light character comic since Jack Benny stopped playing himself". Vincent Canby, in his review for the New York Times, wrote, "Mr. De Niro and Mr. Grodin are lunatic delights, which is somewhat more than can be said for the movie, whose mechanics keep getting in the way of the performances". In his review for the Washington Post, Hal Hinson criticized director Martin Brest for, "carrying the dead weight of George Gallo's script, Brest isn't up to the strenuous task of transforming his uninspired genre material in something deeper, and so the attempts to mix pathos with comedy strike us merely as wild and disorienting vacillations in tone". David Ansen, in his review for Newsweek, wrote, "The outline of George Gallo's script -- odd-couple antagonists become buddies under perilous circumstances -- was stale five years ago, and the outcome offers no surprises. Too bad: a lot of good work has been wasted on an unworthy cause". Midnight Run has a 100% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
See also
External links
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