The Hard Way (1991)

An action movie star researching a role is allowed to tag along with a hardboiled New York City policeman, 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
James Woods	...	John Moss
Stephen Lang	...	Party Crasher
Annabella Sciorra	...	Susan
John Capodice	...	Grainy
Luis Guzmán	...	Pooley (as Luis Guzman)
LL Cool J	...	Billy
Mary Mara	...	China
Delroy Lindo	...	Captain Brix
Conrad Roberts	...	Witherspoon
Penny Marshall	...	Angie
Christina Ricci	...	Bonnie
George Cheung	...	Drug Dealer
Frank Geraci	...	Newsman
Sophie Maletsky	...	Pizza Waitress

Storyline

Nick Lang is a famous Hollywood actor, well known for his action movies. For his next movie, he needs the proper motivation and inspiration for his role. Thus he teams up with the reluctant New York policeman Lt. 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 coldblooded murderer.

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Plot Keywords:

movie star | film within a film | nightclub | movie premiere | title spoken by character | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 March 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Duro de aguantar

Filming Locations:

McSorley's Old Ale House, 15 East 7th Street, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,301,470, 10 March 1991, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$25,895,485

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$65,595,485

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

In the movie theater where the Nick Lang movie is playing, and where the Party Crasher gets in the shoot-out with Michael J. Fox, there is a poster in the background for Bird on a Wire (1990), which was also directed by John Badham.

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Goofs

Nick and John cover their "Frog Dogs" with ketchup and mustard but when they pick up the hot dogs there is not much on them.

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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.

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Connections

References Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

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Soundtracks

This Neighborhood
Written by Simon Stokes, Chris Pinnick
Performed by Simon Stokes
Courtesy of Kook Records

User Reviews

Works!

When I saw this, I didn't expect much from it. However, it turned out to be just great - it just happened so to press all the right buttons!

Michael J. Fox plays a PG-movie star (think Brendan Fraser) who wants to star in a serious cop flick. For this, he tags along with a real cop for a few days. But the real cop assigned to baby-sit him isn't exactly a fan of his, instead, he sees the wimsy character of Fox as a leech in his balls. This may sound like just any other buddy-movie "yea, they don't match from the starters but in the end, learn to get along", but give this little movie a chance, because: As bold as the casting, at least for what it comes to Fox, may sound, the chemistry really works here- you can almost see the sparks flying between the stars! Woods gives a powerhouse performance as a very "Dirty Harry" - like cop almost on the verge of a nervous breakdown because of his BS assignment. Fox is surprisingly good as his counter-part. And the directing is the usual good Badham- stuff, where a good action -comedy is spiced up with a little bad language and violent themes. I just don't understand how come he nowadays seems to have lost his touch? The man who did this and "Stakeout"? Even "Another stakeout" had it's moments...