Midnight Run
Movie Starring Robert De Niro
I missed the movie Midnight Run (1988) when it was first released. To be honest it wouldn't have interested me even had I noticed it because it was a buddy flick. Midnight Run came to my attention when Janet Evanovich, one of my favorite writers, said in an interview that she got the idea for One for the Money her first Plum novel, from the movie.
I rented a video and Midnight Run became a favorite movie of mine, so much so I recently bought another DVD to replace the one that died (the death involved a cat and some banana punch. Don't ask.)
Robert De Niro as Jack Walsh and Charles Grodin as Jonathan Mardukas develop a chemistry that lifts this modest film into a class of its own. The sequels missed this and never attracted much attention. The story of the bounty hunter and his FTA, that's Failure to Appear for those of you not up on bounty hunter slanguage bonding wasn't a new one even then, but somehow De Niro and Grodin give it a special boost that lifts it from the others of this genre.
Eddie Moscone, played by Joe Pantoliano, a bail bondsman hires Walsh to pick up Mardukas in New York and bring him back to Los Angeles. He says, "It's a midnight run."
When Mardukas phobia about flying gets them kicked off a plane they have to get across the country by other means. Only they have both the Mob and the FBI after them.
The two become somewhat friends as they try to escape their pursuers.
An interesting tidbit I found when researching this movie was that Grodin has scars on his wrists because of having to wear handcuffs so much during the filming of Midnight Run.
Sources: Wikipedia, Internet Movie Data Base and the DVD cover for Midnight Run
Published by Elizabeth J. Baldwin
I trained people to handle horses and other animals for several decades. My book Horses is for ages 9-12. The ISBN is 978-0778737759. Other books are available at http://shop.hollylisle.com/jamaffiliates/... View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentThanks for the recommendation. I haven't seen it. It actually sounds like something my husband would like to watch.
Midnight Run was an excellent movie. I enjoyed your review of it and the new tidbits of info that I didn't know. Like the Grodin's scars from handcuffs.