Midnight Run (1988)
Average Rating: 7.9/10
Reviews Counted: 44
Fresh: 42 | Rotten: 2
Enlivened by the antagonistic chemistry between Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, Midnight Run is an uncommonly entertaining odd couple comedy.
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 1
Enlivened by the antagonistic chemistry between Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, Midnight Run is an uncommonly entertaining odd couple comedy.
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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 23,348
Movie Info
Director Martin Brest, of Going in Style and Beverly Hills Cop fame, was in charge of Midnight Run. Robert De Niro stars as Jack Walsh, a hard-bitten bounty hunter offered $100,000 to bring in embezzler Jonathan Mardukas (Charles Grodin). Handcuffed to the wimpy Mardukas, Walsh assumes that the extradition trip from New York to Los Angeles will be an uneventful one. But the prisoner hasn't told Walsh the whole story: the embezzler owes $15 million to a mobster (Dennis Farina), and he's been
Jul 11, 1988 Wide
Jun 24, 1998
MCA Universal Home Video
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Cast
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Robert De Niro
Jack Walsh -
Charles Grodin
Jonathan "The Duke" ... -
Yaphet Kotto
Alonzo Mosely -
John Ashton
Marvin Dorfler -
Dennis Farina
Jimmy Serrano -
Joe Pantoliano
Eddie Moscone -
Richard Foronjy
Tony Darvo -
Robert Miranda
Joey -
Jack Kehoe
Jerry Geisler -
John Toles-Bey
Monroe Bouchet -
Fran Brill
Dana Mardukas -
Danielle Du Clos
Denise -
Lou Felder
Airline Pilot -
Mary Gillis
Bus Ticket Clerk -
Thomas J. Hageboeck
Sgt. Gooch -
Philip Baker Hall
Sidney -
John Hammil
FBI Surveillance Age... -
Tom Irwin
FBI Agent Perry -
Bob Maroff
L.A. Taxi Driver -
Tom McCleister
Red Wood -
Cameron Milzer
Stewardess -
Frank Pesce
Carmine -
Wendy Phillips
Gail -
Lois Smith
Mrs. Nelson -
Robert Vento
Serrano Bodyguard -
Tracey Walter
Diner Counter Man -
Jimmie Ray Weeks
FBI Agent Tuttle -
Stanley White
Stanley -
Dale Beard Jr.
Native American -
Rowdy Burdick
Las Vegas FBI Agent -
Andy Charnoki
Flagstaff Sheriff -
Bill Fritz
Bar Customer -
Michael D. Gainsboro...
FBI Surveillance Age... -
Richard Gonzalez
Bar Cashier -
Matt Jennings
Jason -
Pete Jensen
Flagstaff Police Cap... -
Varnoy Lee
Airport Porter -
Linda Margules
Car Rental Clerk -
Scott McAfee
Boy on Plane -
Paul Joseph McKenna
Ohio Policeman -
Armando Muniz
Serrano Bodyguard -
Rosemarie Murphy
Coffee Shop Waitress -
Wilfred Netsosie
Native American -
Thomas Nez
Native American -
Jim Portese
Serrano Bodyguard -
Sonia M. Roberts
Stewardess -
Sam Sanders
Train Porter -
Dan York
Las Vegas FBI Agent -
Jack N. Young
Amarillo Desk Sergea... -
Joe "Tippy" Zeoli
Serrano Bodyguard -
Robert Coleman
Native American -
William Robbins
Native American
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Midnight Run Trailer & Photos
All Critics (44) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (2) | DVD (12)
Who said movies always have to be original? This one is redeemed by execution and brilliant talent: De Niro, Grodin, director Martin Brest, composer Danny Elfman, most of the cast and technicians.
Top CriticA performance like De Niro's, in a well-made entertainment like Midnight Run, is cheap at any price. And capable of restoring the audience's faith in the form.
De Niro is nervily hilarious and Grodin nervelessly exceptional in Midnight Run, a formula buddy movie exalted to insta-classic status by their performances.
Grodin and De Niro are different kinds of actors, but they share a knack for detail and a gift for understatement that keeps their scenes together crackling.
Midnight Run touches on one of the great mysteries of the movies: How is it that the tritest material can come to life when touched by the right director and the right actors?
Funny, unpredictable and refreshingly adult.
A thoroughly engaging action film, Midnight Run boasts a superb cast that transforms its rather mundane story line into something memorable, funny, and moving.
Wonder why De Niro doesn't do comedy this good any more.
Midnight Run is an inside-out, upside-down buddy film and comedic cross- country caper. It also is the entertaining excuse for Robert De Niro, the Method actor of his generation, to cut loose and play things light for a change.
As with all the best road movies -- and this is one of the best -- the picture really moves, as a simple air trip from New York to LA turns into a saga of trains and automobiles, car crashes, and skirmishes with the FBI and [other] interested parties.
De Niro is probably the most intense and idiosyncratic actor of his generation; Midnight Run may be the most conventional movie I've ever seen.
Brace yourself for a movie joyride that sends you home reeling from thrills, laughter and the pleasure of honest sentiment.
A cut above your average buddy flick.
The pleasures of Midnight Run come mainly from its acting.
De Niro e Grodin, com seus estilos radicalmente diferentes de interpretação, funcionam surpreendentemente bem juntos, elevando a história formulaica e transformando-a em algo interessante e divertido.
The entire cast is superb, each with a good ear for comedy.
Good chemistry, action, and story make this a plus.
While other films may have won awards that year, Midnight Run is really the best film of 1988.
Audience Reviews for Midnight Run
Super Reviewer
In order to collect his $100,000 fee, bounty hunter (Robert DeNiro) must find and return bail jumper and former Mafia accountant (Charles Grodin) from New York to Los Angeles. What he doesn't bargain for though, is that the F.B.I., the Mafia and another rival bounty hunter (John Ashton) are also on the trail. As problems arise on the trip back, a strange bond and friendship develop between the disparate duo.
How many films can you honestly say deliver on all fronts? Off the top of my head, I can't think of many. This, however, is definitely one of them. It has exciting action set-pieces; perfectly tuned comedy moments; it has pathos; character development from an unlikely pairing of actors and throughout it all, maintains a level of danger. Is there really anymore you can ask for?
Working from a marvellous script by George Gallo, director Martin Brest has the perfect balance on this one. He captures all the aforementioned qualities just right and shows a level of skill in his handling of the material. What makes this film work so well though, is the chemistry from it's leads; two complete opposites but still entirely believable. Robert DeNiro is an actor that has never been taken lightly and has, rightly, received acclimations aplenty throughout his illustrious career. However, on occasion, some of his performances are slightly overlooked or maybe overshadowed by his more meatier, well known, roles like Travis Bickle, Vito Corleone or Jake LaMotta, when in fact he has several little gems that slip under the radar. This is one of them. His portrayal of bounty hunter Jack Walsh is absolutely superb, delivering an intimidating presence in his trademark style but also a friendly, lightness of touch which add layers and depth to his character. Playing the fool to DeNiro's straight man is a wonderfully endearing but highly irritating Charles Grodin as embezzling accountant Jonathan Mardukas. His character is obsessive, intelligent and gentle of heart and they both play their roles to absolute, comic-gold, perfection. Very rarely do you get such a dissimilar pair that are so believable and work together as well as this. It's down to these two fitting performances that the blend of comedy and action is so seamless. They're not alone though, the rest of the cast are also given substantial supporting roles, particularly a portentous Dennis Farina as gangster Jimmy Serrano and an unscrupulous Joe Pantoliano as bail-bondsman Eddie Moscone. It's a film that affords the time to a host of great characters and performers.
Danny Elfman's excellent and dynamic score also helps in developing and maintaining a particular mood and style, keeping the exciting cross-country adventure from ever getting stale.
It's an old formula that plays like a cross between John Hughes' 1987 comedy "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" and Stanley Kramer's 1958 jail-break classic "The Defiant Ones" but it's injected with such a poignancy and freshness that make it very hard not to be swept away with it.
I wouldn't really say that this is a film that's underrated as any that have seen it, tend to speak highly. It is, however, often forgotten about and has claim to be one of the most enjoyable film's of the 80's.
Super Reviewer
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- Jack Walsh: I think I'm gonna get the steak, what about you...well why don't you then get the lobster so I can get a little surf n' turf action going.
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- Jack Walsh: Yeah, there was a couple of them I might have taken a shot at. [when talking about having sex with good looking chickens]
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- Jack Walsh: I'm only going to say three words to you, shut the f**k up.
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Latest News on Midnight Run
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Dennis Farina: 1944-2013Tough guy character actor Dennis Farina, whose grizzled persona lent authenticity to Midnight Run,...
June 3, 2010:
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