Midnight Run (1988)

An accountant is chased by bounty hunters, the F.B.I., and the Mafia after jumping bail.

Director:

Martin Brest

Writer:

George Gallo

Stars:

Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro	...	Jack Walsh
Charles Grodin	...	Jonathan Mardukas
Yaphet Kotto	...	Alonzo Mosely
John Ashton	...	Marvin Dorfler
Dennis Farina	...	Jimmy Serrano
Joe Pantoliano	...	Eddie Moscone
Richard Foronjy	...	Tony Darvo
Robert Miranda	...	Joey
Jack Kehoe	...	Jerry Geisler
Wendy Phillips	...	Gail
Danielle DuClos	...	Denise
Philip Baker Hall	...	Sidney
Tom McCleister	...	Red Wood (as Thom McCleister)
Mary Gillis	...	Bus Ticket Clerk
John Toles-Bey	...	Monroe Bouchet

Storyline

Bounty hunter Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) is sent to find and return bail jumper and former Mafia accountant, Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas (Charles Grodin). The FBI has had no success in locating The Duke, so when Jack finds him in next to no time, they are a little embarrassed. In order to collect his $100,000 fee, Jack must take The Duke from New York to Los Angeles. However, the Mafia and the FBI have other ideas, as does Marvin Dorfler (John Ashton), a rival bounty hunter. On their long cross-country trip to LA, the two get to know each other and they build up a strange friendship.

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Plot Keywords:

mafia | bail jumper | road movie | aerophobia | police corruption | 

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Taglines:

Taking The Midnight Run Is A Hell Of A Way To Make A Living

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 July 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Midnight Run

Filming Locations:

Miami, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,506,290, 20 July 1988, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$38,413,606

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$81,613,606

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, City Light Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The idea to have Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) continually checking his watch, and the whole back-story related to his habit, was all De Niro's own idea.

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Goofs

In boxcar scene, Jack is smoking in one angle, not in the second.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Jack trying to pick door lock. He drops one of his picks. When he bends over to pick it up, a gun shot is fired through the door, right where his head had been previously]
Jack Walsh: Shit!

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, Robert De Niro's name is spelled Robert DeNiro.

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Alternate Versions

In the scene for theatrical release, when Dorfler is in his hotel room eating french fries, and Carmine-The-Bail-Jumper, is handcuffed to a pipe in the bathroom, Dorfler addresses Carmine as "Hey Scumbag," and Carmine reassures that his name is not such by replying, "The name's 'Carmine', Fucko!" In the alternate version for TV, his reply is "The name's 'Carmine', Fatso!"

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Connections

References The Cat in the Hat (1971)

User Reviews

Almost a winner

To hell with the pretentiousness of a Shyamalan or the increasingly misplaced self-adulation of the Coens, 'Midnight Run' has no other purpose in life other than to use the movie as a medium of entertainment. . . and it does. Oh boy; it does.

Badly underrated on release and still unfairly under valued even now, 'Midnight Run' is actually class-act film making, the narrative impeccably engineered and the acting uniformly excellent throughout.

Faults? Definitely, not the least of 'em being the gratuitous use of profanity: the movie's tone is such that it just doesn't need the endless ear-grating use four letter words -- 'Midnight Run' isn't about reality or anything remotely approaching it, so the insistence on so much gutterspeak is a major error.

Set pieces though are gloriously handled, and the helicopter sequence is quite as good as anything in a Bond movie -- a genre that has managed quite well without spraying profanities everywhere because it knows, and we know, none of it's real.

9/10 then for 'Midnight Run', because as an exercise in how to develop a movie, to establish characters and plot trajectories, to bring 'em all together in a final wrap up and still leave space for a minor plot twist, it's of textbook quality.

* I happened to see this as a late-night TV re-run, the day after watching the Coen's 'The Man Who Wasn't There'. 'Midnight Run' is everything that the Coen's work is not: it isn't self reverential, it isn't seeking to be a cult, and above all, it knows how to tell a story with speed and with style. RECOMMENDED.