A review by Brooks Rich
Consider this also as a bonus forgotten film Friday. John Badham's 1991 action comedy would make a good double feature with Bird on a Wire although to be honest I think this film is a little better. Badham is able to stretch this comedy and action muscles again in this film about a mismatched pair trying to track down a serial killer. It's a buddy cop movie with one of the cops only pretending to be a cop.
Michael J. Fox is Hollywood superstar Nick Lang, who wants to shadow a cop to audition for a role in a serious cop film. James Woods is hot headed NYPD sergeant John Moss, on the trail of a serial killer known as the Party Crasher, played by a ripped bleach blonde Stephen Lang who leaves no amount of scenery unchewed. Nick pulls some strings and gets himself assigned to Moss, who is told by his captain, played by the always awesome Delroy Lindo, to drop the Party Crasher case while he has Nick as a partner. Of course Moss is not a by the book cop and he and his Hollywood partner are soon on the trail of the disturbed villain.
First of let's discuss how stacked this cast is. We have Fox and Woods as the leads along with character actor Stephen Lang as the villain. As I said we also have Delroy Lindo as the cop, joined on the police force by Luis Guzman and LL Cool J. There are small parts for Penny Marshall and Kathy Najimy, a comedic actress who has been around, and a very young Christina Ricci plays the daughter of Woods love interest. Everyone does a great job but honestly Stephen Lang nearly steals the whole show. He plays this character like Buffalo Bill if he was an Adam West Batman villain.
We've seen the odd couple scenario in films before. Look at 48 Hours for another film about a cop with an unconventional partner. Kind of the same thing here. Characters who argue and bicker but then must come together at the end to stop a threat. I argue that The Hard Way is such as good as 48 Hours, if not a little better. I love the chemistry between Woods and Fox and they play off each other well. When they do have to team up at the end, it feels earner. Their relationship never fully gets better too which feels real to me. Woods is always annoyed by Fox's character as one would be annoyed if they were shadowed by a Hollywood actor studying for a role.
The Hard Way has sadly been relegated to being a forgotten gem from the '90s. If you like action comedies please track this one down. If you've been following along with John Badham, you should now know he's a fun director who knows how to balance both comedy and action.
Consider this also as a bonus forgotten film Friday. John Badham's 1991 action comedy would make a good double feature with Bird on a Wire although to be honest I think this film is a little better. Badham is able to stretch this comedy and action muscles again in this film about a mismatched pair trying to track down a serial killer. It's a buddy cop movie with one of the cops only pretending to be a cop.
Michael J. Fox is Hollywood superstar Nick Lang, who wants to shadow a cop to audition for a role in a serious cop film. James Woods is hot headed NYPD sergeant John Moss, on the trail of a serial killer known as the Party Crasher, played by a ripped bleach blonde Stephen Lang who leaves no amount of scenery unchewed. Nick pulls some strings and gets himself assigned to Moss, who is told by his captain, played by the always awesome Delroy Lindo, to drop the Party Crasher case while he has Nick as a partner. Of course Moss is not a by the book cop and he and his Hollywood partner are soon on the trail of the disturbed villain.
First of let's discuss how stacked this cast is. We have Fox and Woods as the leads along with character actor Stephen Lang as the villain. As I said we also have Delroy Lindo as the cop, joined on the police force by Luis Guzman and LL Cool J. There are small parts for Penny Marshall and Kathy Najimy, a comedic actress who has been around, and a very young Christina Ricci plays the daughter of Woods love interest. Everyone does a great job but honestly Stephen Lang nearly steals the whole show. He plays this character like Buffalo Bill if he was an Adam West Batman villain.
We've seen the odd couple scenario in films before. Look at 48 Hours for another film about a cop with an unconventional partner. Kind of the same thing here. Characters who argue and bicker but then must come together at the end to stop a threat. I argue that The Hard Way is such as good as 48 Hours, if not a little better. I love the chemistry between Woods and Fox and they play off each other well. When they do have to team up at the end, it feels earner. Their relationship never fully gets better too which feels real to me. Woods is always annoyed by Fox's character as one would be annoyed if they were shadowed by a Hollywood actor studying for a role.
The Hard Way has sadly been relegated to being a forgotten gem from the '90s. If you like action comedies please track this one down. If you've been following along with John Badham, you should now know he's a fun director who knows how to balance both comedy and action.
Comments
Post a Comment