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:

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the last movie to feature the 75th Anniversary variant of the 1990 Universal Studios logo. Every other feature from Universal after this movie, up until McHale's Navy (1997), used a short variant.

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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 Dirty Harry (1971)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Wham! Pow! Bam!

"The Hard Way" is a good old fashioned popcorn flick which gets off to a fast start and keeps moving until the credits roll. Fox plays an Indiana Jones type adventure movie star who goes to NYC to hang with a badass cop (Woods) to learn what being a cop is like and becomes embroiled in a serial killer caper. The well crafted, unpredictable screenplay is chock full of action, comedy, stunts, suspense, light drama, etc. with nary a dull moment to be found. Good not-to-be-taken-seriously Hollywood fun stuff worth a second look for those who saw it a decade ago.

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 Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1