The Hard Way (1991)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

John Badham

Writers (WGA):

Lem Dobbs (story) and
Michael Kozoll (story) ...

Release Date:

8 March 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

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

Plot:

An action film star researching a role is allowed to tag along with a hardboiled New York cop, who finds him superficial and irritating.

Plot Keywords:

Car | Police | Cell Phone | 1990s | Shoot

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Michael J. Fox	...	Nick Lang / Ray Casanov
James Woods	...	Detective Lt. John Moss, NYPD
Stephen Lang	...	Party Crasher
Annabella Sciorra	...	Susan
John Capodice	...	Detective Grainy, NYPD
Luis Guzmán	...	Detective Benny Pooley, NYPD
LL Cool J	...	Detective Billy, NYPD
Mary Mara	...	Detective China, NYPD
Delroy Lindo	...	Captain Brix, NYPD
Conrad Roberts	...	Witherspoon, Gun Dealer
Penny Marshall	...	Angie, Nick's Agent
Christina Ricci	...	Bonnie
George Cheung	...	Drug Dealer
Frank Geraci	...	Newsman
Sophie Maletsky	...	Pizza Waitress

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:16 (w) | Italy:T | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:16 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Badham-Cohen Group, The

Trivia:

The billboard used for the climatic sequence in Times Square was originally a flat 2D billboard, but was later changed to the final version seen on screen because it could not be recreated on a sound stage.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Susan is hanging off the large hat of "Smoking Gunn II"'s billboard, she says, "John!" but her mouth says, "Hey!"

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: Homer and Apu (#5.13)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

This neighborhood

A Classic Screwball Comedy for the 90's

It is easy to play manic characters, but much harder to do it with intelligence and charm. Woods unable to articulate what he is thinking is as funny as Cary Grant was when he did this schtick sixty years ago. We not only sympathize with Woods but we want him to be as furious and tormented as he is: he not only carries the film, but makes Michael Fox's imitation of him funny. Hard to say why this film wasn't a hit, other than the fact that it is really a comedy, not an action comedy.