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 | actor | detective | film within a film | buddy cop | 

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Taglines:

There's only one way these two are going to get along... the Hard Way.

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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:

The Hard Way

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

Gross USA:

$25,895,485

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$65,595,485

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, The Badham-Cohen Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Generally regarded as the template for the series "Castle."

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Goofs

When Moss gives an interview in front of one of the latest victims of the Party Crasher he is heard saying to the interviewer, "he may not even be a man, I doubt he's got the equipment for it." Yet when the same interview appears in the Party Crasher's apartment, Moss says "I doubt he's got the right equipment for it."

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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

Referenced in Rewind This! (2013)

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Soundtracks

El Milloncito
Written by Cuco Valoy and Jose Pena Suazo
Performed by Cuco Valoy
Courtesy of Kubaney Records

User Reviews

It's "The Odd Couple" meets "Dirty Harry" head-on.

Wildly violent, but hilarious comedy about a showboat-like Hollywood action star (Michael J. Fox) who in order to prepare for his next film, comes to the Big Apple and tags along with a hard-boiled police detective (James Woods) who is desperately determined to nab a notorious killer dubbed "The Party Crasher" (Stephen Lang) despite nearly getting himself killed in the process. Fox and Woods certainly make an interesting comedy team. There's no way that this movie could without the presence of a seriously funny actor like Woods to be included in the film. The film has a few great moments including one where the Woods character impolitely asks the captain (Delroy Lindo) to get the Fox character off his back and the film's climax is exciting and makes a great reference to "North by Northwest". It's the "The Odd Couple" meets "Dirty Harry" head-on.