Midnight Run (1988)

Midnight Run (1988) – A bounty hunter has to bring a runaway mob accountant back before his bail forfeiture hearing.  A simple job, except for the mob boss who is trying to kill the accountant, the FBI trying to protect a different operation, a rival bounty hunter who specializes in messing things up, and the subject himself.

Directed by Martin Brest                            Starring Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin

Why You Will Like It-DeNiro and Grodin are fun to watch playing their standard characters “off” one another.

A “midnight run” is an easy job, one with no complications.  In this case, the title comes with a sly wink at the foolishness of that belief.  Jack Walsh (De Niro) is an ex-cop trying to make ends meet by working as a bail bonds bounty hunter.  It’s a sleazy job with a boss (Joe Pantoliano) who can’t be trusted.  But this job could be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  An accountant for the mob boss that ran Walsh out of Chicago (Dennis Farina) has disappeared.  Walsh’s boss put up several hundred thousand dollars for bail and could go out of business if Walsh can’t bring him back in time.

All of that is just the platter for the meat of the movie.  Grodin brings his well honed fastidious, nerdy characters to life here.  He is precise and observant of everything around him.  Meanwhile, a stock De Niro character is none of the above.  Forced together because of the assignment, the two will annoy the snot out of each other for a week-long journey from New York to Los Angeles.

The shortcoming is that it never rises above annoyance.  This is a modestly interesting, modestly funny, modestly intriguing pair of characters placed in stock situations resolved with stock answers. The movie’s advertising tagline tells you what the studio thought they had – ” This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”  We never make it to “buddy movie” status here.  The two characters are interesting, but they never develop much chemistry, and we never develop much attachment to them either.

It’s a nice, little movie that won’t tax your mind or your heartstrings too much.

Rating – *** Worth A Look