Midnight Run Collection

Action

Comedy

Crime

Thriller

Midnight Run

Universal Pictures

City Light Films

United States of America

English

Robert De Niro

Charles Grodin

Yaphet Kotto

John Ashton

Dennis Farina

Joe Pantoliano

Richard Foronjy

Robert Miranda

Jack Kehoe

Wendy Phillips

Philip Baker Hall

Tom Irwin

Jimmie Ray Weeks

Danielle DuClos

Tom McCleister

Mary Gillis

John Toles-Bey

Thomas J. Hageboeck

Stanley White

Scott McAfee

Linda Cerasuolo

Lois Smith

Fran Brill

Michael Hawkins

John Hammil

Lou Felder

Cameron Milzer

Sonia M. Roberts

Sam Sanders

Frank Pesce

Paul Joseph McKenna

Matt Jennings

Rosemarie Murphy

Jack N. Young

Robert Coleman

William Robbins

Wilfred Netsosie

Sherman L. Robbins

Dale Beard Jr.

Thomas Nez

Richard Gonzalez

Bill Fritz

Pete Jensen

Andy Charnoki

Tracey Walter

Robert Vento

Joe "Tippy" Zeoli

James Portolese

Armando Muniz

Dan York

Rowdy Burdick

Varnoy Lee

Bob Maroff

Martin Brest

Lisa Burnett

George D. Miklos

Robert Minkoff

Marguerite Nocera

Terry Ray

Jock L. Schloss

D. Danny Warhol

Chris Lebenzon

Danny Elfman

Donald E. Thorin

George Gallo

Mike Johnson

Ian MacGregor-Scott

William S. Gilmore

Daniel C. Striepeke

Frank Griffin

Steve Agalsoff

Brick Mason

Holly Bower

Stephen G. Shank

Jerry Ziesmer

Alan Edmisten

James F. Boyle

Emily Ferry

Roger Pancake

Christopher Gilman

Cindy Marty

John M. Stephens

Dennis Seawright

Richard Foreman Jr.

Margaret Hilliard

Peter J. Kelly

Roderick Nunnally

Christy Richmond

Bill Warren, Jr.

Matthew E. Alper

Greg Agalsoff

Greg Knapp

Greg Stacy

Roland Neveu

John Ballowe

Karen G. Wilson

Larry Powell

Bryan Denegal

Bill Borden

Mark Wade

Mychael Bates

Jeffrey R. Clark

Murray Schwartz

David Aaron

Michael Gershman

Robin Alan Knight

Bill Luckey

Albert Romero

Marvin Walowitz

Kyle Wright

Rob Hahn

James R. Alexander

Gaile R. Brown

Jeff Frink

Randy Cabral

Joseph A. Ponticelle

Glenn Randall Jr.

Daniel C. Gold

Robert J. Carlyle

Roger Dietz

Paul Sabourin

Robert Cole

Frank M. Holgate

Vicki Jackson-Lemay

Sean Haworth

Andrew Patterson

David Blitstein

Thomas Love

Neil Smith

Dave Friedman

Jeff Stolow

Donald Krafft

Denise Whiting

Gary L. King

Richie Ford

Douglas Kirkland

Charles Brescia

David Spence

Daniel Dayton

Omar Abderrahman

Kimberly Clancy

Solange S. Schwalbe

Thomas Whiting

Steve Clark

David L. Merrill

Robert Sordal

Paolo Cascio

Cliff Fleming

William M. Elvin

David J. Negrón Jr.

Dino Ganziano

Grant Gilmore

Timothy W. Tiedje

Thomas Paul Croce

Steve Kohler

T. Sano Kwong

Wilma Garscadden-Gahret

George R. Nelson

Midnight Run 1988, the benchmark for the buddy buddy road movie.

The unsung DeNiro classic. The missing 80s masterpiece as regards everything coming together, and simply the best buddy buddy movie that, to me at least, has ever hit the screen.

De Niro & Grodin, there is no other duo in the genre that bounces off each other with the 100% joyful results we get here. They define the term dynamic duo. Director Martin Brest lets his actors do their thing, it is the sort of film where the cast are just happy to be working and use their talent to the max. Be it improv or visually acting in the back ground, both men are at one and in some chemistry zone. 

The score from Danny Elfman is like some hybrid Western wacky races fusion, but hell it works well. One of Elfman's best ever scores in fact. The dialogue is electric, some of the script is so sharp it should be put away in a sharps box and labelled up as to be opened whilst wearing gloves. The rest of the cast are uniformly brilliant, be it the wonderful John Ashton as rival bounty hunter Marvin, the menacing yet cheekily attired Dennis Farina as mob boss Jimmy Serrano, or Yaphet Kotto as the constantly irritated FBI agent Alonso Mosely, it's pretty much a flawless cast in optimum gear. 

The rating on the big movie sites, though high enough, is still a disgrace, I can only think that DeNiro fans really didn't want to see him doing a comedy? Well I say they are wrong! Because this film shows that the great man once had much to give the comedy/action splinter of film. Perhaps he just needed the perfect foil of Charles Grodin alongside him? Either way this film is smart, funny, even tender at times (I defy all to not be touched deeply during a daughter/father reunion).

It has no peers for an 80s action/comedy, with bags of action (Brest shows some great skills at action construction) to keep the pulses raised. A group of characters beautifully brought to life by a top draw cast, and a finale that gladdens the heart because it closes exactly the way it should, Midnight Run, my bias not withstanding, is a benchmark movie for its ilk.

Fistophobia for those that don't agree! 10/10

"Midnight Run" has a generous measure of wonderfully executed action sequences and comedy that is genuinely funny, although there is an extremely high reliance upon swearing and this will undoubtedly offend and alienate the more sensitive souls sitting out there in the audience. This is also a hugely entertaining film which contains a number of memorable Robert De Niro moments - he is fascinating to watch during the scene where he visits his ex-wife Gail to borrow some money (this, in turn, leads to a spectacularly awkward encounter with his daughter which eventually ends in embarrassing silence) and again when he finally comes face to face with Jimmy Serrano, an unwelcome face from his past - and the many locations look absolutely gorgeous.

Best Movies

Midnight Run

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Robert De Niro

Charles Grodin

Yaphet Kotto

John Ashton

Dennis Farina

Joe Pantoliano

Richard Foronjy

Robert Miranda

Jack Kehoe

Wendy Phillips

Box office

More Like This

Lammbock

Night on Earth

Inside Man

Thelma & Louise

Pieces of April

The Devil's Rejects

Trick

Over the Top