The Hard Way (1991)

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

Director:

John Badham

Writers:

Lem Dobbs (story), Michael Kozoll (story),

Stars:

Michael J. Fox, James Woods, Stephen Lang

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 (as Luis Guzman)
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

Storyline

Nick Lang is a famous actor, well know for his action movies. For the next film he needs the proper motivation and inspiration for his roll. Thus he teams up with the reluctant N.Y. cop John Moss. Not only does he have to put up with Nick who is laborious and out of touch with realities, but he also has to catch a cold-blooded murderer.

---

Plot Keywords:

actor | detective | 1990s | baseball bat | mooning | 

---

Taglines:

Michael J. Fox as Hollywood's most spoiled Movie star: James Woods as New York's angriest cop.

---

Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 March 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Auf die harte Tour

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$25,895,485 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Badham-Cohen Group, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mos Def's film debut.

---

Goofs

As Susan is falling from the Smoking Gunn II billboard onto Nick Lang's cigar a harness rope is briefly visible.

---

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.

---

Connections

Spoofs Taxi Driver (1976)

---

Soundtracks

"Murdergram (Live at Rapmania)"
Written by Marley Marl (as M. Williams) and LL Cool J (as J.T. Smith)
Performed by LL Cool J (as L L Cool J)
Courtesy of Columbia/Def Jam Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Woods and Fox make it worthwhile

Truth be known this would be a fairly average action comedy if it wasn't for the performances of James Woods and Micheal J.Fox, both of whom are perfectly cast here. Woods plays detective John Moss, a hard boiled cop who's trying to catch a killer known as the party crasher. Fox plays film star Nick Lang, who wants to play the part of a police officer in an upcoming film. After seeing Moss being interviewed on the news, Lang feels that if he were to hang around with him and get to known what motivates him, what makes him tick etc then he would be well prepared to audition for the part. So Lang arranges to be Moss's partner. However, Moss isn't so keen on the idea as he still has his sights set on catching the party crasher(cue a series of highly amusing interactions between Woods and Fox).So with Lang as his new partner, Moss continues his investigation on the party crasher. Out of the two, Woods takes the acting honours, as his John Moss character is by far the more entertaining. I read somewhere that this film didn't do so well at the box office, which is a real shame given the performances of it's leading stars.