Movie Review: Midnight Run

It's hard to describe the genre of this movie. In one sense, it's a road movie. In another, it's a dark comedy. Some describe it as a chase movie. Still others call it a buddy movie. So I suppose this will be my first review of a dark road chase buddy comedy movie.

The plot follows Jack Walsh, a bounty hunter with high standards, and his capture, criminal Jonathan "the duke" Mardukas as they travel across the country. After Jack is offered $100 thousand to catch Mardukas, he sets out and gets him rather easily. Too easily. They get on a plane, but Mardukas has a panic attack, as he's afraid of flying. So they set off on an adventure across the country in order to get him from New York to LA. Along the way, their pursued by the FBI, the Chicago mob, and another bounty hunter. It turns into a darkly humorous and entertaining adventure.

It was funny at some parts, but it's not as funny as some people make it out to be. To me, most of the value in this movie comes in that it's a sort of character study between Jack and Mardukas. It's fun to watch their odd couple relationship go through it's ups and downs, as well as the way these ups and downs change both of them.

Robert de Niro gives a nice performance as Jack Walsh, as does Charles Grodin as Johnathan Mardukas. I was satisfied about the acting overall, nothing too special but it was good. Martin Brest as director was okay, I think some other directors could of done it better (he is best know for directing Beverly Hills Cop and, unfortunately, Gigli). I feel like it would be better if the screenplay was a little bit smarter and didn't rely so much on say the F-word every other second, but the writing did stay realistic.

Overall: 3 out of 4 stars. Though it was good, I was a bit disappointed. I think it had a good concept but the execution was a bit below par. I would say that it's a bit overrated.

Reference scale:
Grosse Point Blank < Midnight Run < In Bruges