Bird on a Wire (1990)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

John Badham

Writers (WGA):

Louis Venosta (story) &
Eric Lerner (story) ...

Release Date:

18 May 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

He's every woman's dream and one woman's nightmare

Plot:

A FBI informant has kept his new identity secret for 15 years, now an old flame has recognised him and the bad guys are back for revenge.

Plot Keywords:

FBI | Chase | Undressing Scene | Tiger | Removed Tattoo

Cast

Mel Gibson	...	Rick Jarmin
Goldie Hawn	...	Marianne Graves
David Carradine	...	Eugene Sorenson
Bill Duke	...	Albert Diggs
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Joe Weyburn
Joan Severance	...	Rachel Varney
Harry Caesar	...	Marvin
Jeff Corey	...	Lou Baird
Alex Bruhanski	...	Raun
John Pyper-Ferguson	...	Jamie
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Mr. Takawaki
Jackson Davies	...	Paul Bernard
Florence Patterson	...	Molly Baird
Tim Healy	...	Paul
Wes Tritter	...	Scottie

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #30269) | South Korea:15 | Norway:15 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | West Germany:12 | Ireland:15 | Singapore:PG | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Iceland:12 (original rating) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

3rd Street, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Badham-Cohen Group, The

Trivia:

The final negotiating point to convince 'Mel Gibson' to do this film was the offer of a use of a producer's house for the summer, allowing Gibson to shoot the film and give his large family an excellent summer vacation home.

Goofs:

Continuity: While Rick and Marianne are in the hotel room, they begin pulling back all the covers on the bed. They pull back several layers until they are at the sheet. In the next shot, they pull back one more blanket to reveal the sheet again.

Quotes:

Marianne Graves: I need a bed. I need a bath. I need a massage. I need a manicure... I need my therapist.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Baghead (2008)

Soundtrack:

Ramblin' Man

Good standard dumb action movie!!

This is a middle of the road but enjoyable action comedy. John Badham a veteran of the action genre handles proceedings with flair and paces the movie well. The film hardly lulls despite a someone choppy ending set in a zoo. The film is routine but gets by with the likable leads, Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn. Gibson was making a name for himself as an action man by this time having already done 3 Mad Max films and 2 Lethal Weapon movies. Gibson's everyman likability and at the same time tough guy physique worked well in these movies, despite wasting his acting ability, with the exception of a great role in Lethal Weapon. At the same time as Gibson evading death by the pursuing dirty lawmen, David Carradine and Bill Duke, Goldie Hawn seems to be in her very own light-hearted Goldie movie about the posh bird who learns there is more to life than money and essentially she is still acting from her previous movie, Overboard. Despite this Hawn is likable and has good chemistry with Gibson. The trademark showing of her ass is once again here and Hawn parades her derrière in her movies even more than Jean-Claude Van Damme. The film also features the gorgeous and future queen of soft core, erotic, B-movies Joan Severance.

The film has some good action scenes and plenty of on screen carnage and thanks to Badhams brisk direction it engages. The story maybe wafer thin but the film moves by so quickly it is difficult not to enjoy. The chemistry between the two leads more than make up for the clichéd by the numbers performances of the bad guys Carradine and Duke. Carradine is so far from his great performance in Kill Bill 2 that you have to wonder why it takes so much inspiration to coax a performance from the man whose wooden demeanour has led to him being a B-movie staple for nearly 20 years.

Overall this is enjoyable stuff and typical of the sort of harmless and moronic fun action movies of the 80's. ***