Jack Walsh is a tough ex-cop turned bounty hunter. Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas is a sensitive accountant who embezzled $15 million from the Mob, gave it to charity, and then jumped bail. Jack's in for a cool $100,000 if he can deliver The Duke from New York to L.A. on time. And alive. Sounds like just another MIDNIGHT RUN (a piece of cake in bounty hunter slang), but it turns into a cross-country chase. The FBI is after the Duke to testify - the Mob after him for revenge - and Walsh is after him to just shut up. If someone else doesn't do the job, the two unlikely partners may end up killing each other.

Review

Director Martin Brest rocketed to the top of Hollywood's A list with the blockbuster success of Beverly Hills Cop, and this 1988 follow-up is even better. Midnight Run is a genuine rarity--an action comedy that's dramatically satisfying--thanks to a sharp script by George Gallo, the superb teaming of Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, and Brest's consummate skill in combining suspense and humor with well-developed characters. De Niro plays a maverick bounty hunter whose latest assignment is Grodin, an accountant accused of embezzling from the Mob. De Niro thinks he's in for an easy job, transporting Grodin (who's afraid to fly) from New York to Los Angeles, but soon discovers that both the FBI and the Mafia are hot on Grodin's trail. Equal parts road trip, action thriller, and a quirky character study, Midnight Run moves at a breakneck pace but still gives De Niro and Grodin time to create rich, memorable performances as two men who seem to be opposites, but gradually develop mutual respect and admiration. Mainstream entertainment at its best. --Jeff Shannon