Great Movie: ''Midnight Run''

It can be said that the worst thing that happened to Robert De Niro was finding out he was good at comedy. Suddenly, master thespian, serious actor, became a broad parody of his greatness at drama. It was if the comic De Niro pulled a fast one on the serious De Niro, wiping out all of his hallmark moments in cinema. A sad shadow of himself, Bob has become. But, it wasn't always like this, for he started his comic roles with a brilliant bang. And, that bang was ''Midnight Run''....... The movie came out in 1988. After an extraordinary decade of high drama, Robert De Niro decided to go for the belly laugh. He picked a great first project. The story of ''Midnight Run'' is simple and not new. De Niro plays a bounty hunter, Jack Walsh,  alone in the field, hunting one scumbag after another who has skipped bail. When the bail bondsman needs to have his wayward prey captured, then the bounty hunter comes in. It turns out the guy De Niro is after is a somewhat famous money launderer for a Chicago mobster, Jimmy Serrano. The accountant has stolen millions from Serrano. De Niro makes a deal with his bail bondman--- played wonderfully by the great Joe Pantoliano---- for a big score if he captures the elusive accountant, Jonathan ''The Duke'' Mardukas. De Niro is tired of chasing the bad guys. He is getting too old to have his life threatened. As a retired Chicago policeman, he has spent his whole adult life seeing the badness in the world. He is world weary and fed-up. De Niro's Jack character, we learn, carries a heavy heart. He still loves his ex-wife [ who has since remarried ] and hasn't seen his teenage daughter in ages. In total, Jack Walsh just wants a simple life. He will capture ''The Duke'' and with his earnings, open a coffee shop. That is Jack's dream. A simple life after living a much harder one....... But, he is not alone in wanting to capture the dreaded ''Duke''. Soon, after taking the job, he is accosted on the street by the FBI. They hustle him into a car and thru their always tinted shades, they inform De Niro that they have been after ''The Duke'' for a long time. It seems the accountant knows a lot about the mobster Serrano's organization, enough to bring it crashing down, and the Feds are creaming to catch ''The Duke''. The head agent is Alonzo Moseley, played by Yaphet Kotto, with all of the warmth that we expect from a G-Man. After telling Jack Walsh to mind his own business, they throw him out of the car. But, Jack Walsh has a little parting gift in his pocket. He palmed Moseley's FBI badge and ID. It might come in handy, perhaps....... De Niro's Jack travels from LA to New York, where he has surprisingly tracked down ''The Duke''. De Niro finds the house that ''The Duke'' is hiding, busts in, has to deal with an attack dog, and finally, arrests ''The Duke''. Jack has five days to bring ''The Duke'' back to LA. He naps him the first night. All he has to do is get him back to California and collect his money........ Jonathan ''The Duke'' Mardukas is played by Charles Grodin. De Niro takes him from the home and drives him to the airport to catch the red-eye smoking West. It is in this car that the first interplay between the actors and characters happens. It is obvious that they are gonna be an odd couple, very much on each others nerves and wanting desperately to get away from each other. But, ''The Duke'' can't. He has some new jewelry in the form of the handcuffs that Jack has slapped on him. ''The Duke'' immediately tests the patience of his captor by attempting to bribe him. Jack Walsh doesn't take bribes, that is why he is no longer a Chicago cop. In a brilliantly written and acted scene, both De Niro and Grodin establish that there is gonna be much tension between the two of them. And, much comedy....... Jack Walsh calls the bail bondsman from the airport. He has ''The Duke!'' Eddie, the bondsman, is ecstatic. So is his partner, who immediately offers to go out and get some doughnuts to celebrate. The partner, instead, calls his contact in the Serrano mob and says that ''The Duke'' is coming to LA. You see, they want the accountant just as bad, or, maybe even more, than the FBI. Jimmy Serrano hears this and immediately calls for the plane to be met at the airport. Now, we have a couple of interested parties wanting''The Duke''. And, as the movie progresses, more people join the fun, including a dim-witted fellow bounty hunter, Marvin, played with terrific comic flair by John Ashton. ''The Duke'' is a very wanted man......... I will stop there. I have set up the premise and that is all. The movie has many surprises, some comic, some quite poignant, and they must be enjoyed with fresh eyes to the new viewer. To the watcher that has seen the movie before, then the plotlines I have spoken of will bring a smile of expectation to them. Part of the charm of this movie is the new spin on the old cliches. Yes, there is the odd couple who do not like each other. But, we know that their relationship will thaw and some genuine caring and warmth will shine through. And, we know there will be a serious of mix-ups and near hits that will keep the action going. It is nothing new what this film has to offer. Except, the performances...... Here, the movie soars. Robert De Niro shows wonderful comic chops here. Like the best of comedy acting, the procedure is to play a situation completely straight and then let the comedy come from the absurd twists the story gives you. Comedy is reality seen through a warped eye. A hat can be funny but it what the character does with the funny hat that makes it funnier. De Niro wisely never pushes his comic portrayal. He never telegraphs that he is acting to be funny [ unlike so many other roles he would play in the future ]. He lets it happen in the confines of his character. And, in a few scenes towards the end, he shows the audience how vulnerable his Jack Walsh is. Jack, behind his bellicose manner, is deeply wounded. He wants peace amid the turmoil his life is. It is one of Robert De Niro's best performance........ Opposite him, going toe to toe, is Charles Grodin. It is a genius performance by Grodin. After years of playing sniveling, sarcastic whiners, Grodin kicks out the jams in this movie. There is the sarcasm and self-pity in some of his scenes but they add texture to his portrayal of ''The Duke''. Grodin is ingratiating, first with the audience and then with De Niro. Through his cunningness, we, the audience, spot the good man, who we discover, has a damn good reason why he stole the money from Serrano. By turns charming and deadly serious, Charles Grodin gives a deeply compelling and winning performance....... The supporting cast also deserves to take deep bows. The late Dennis Farina is perfect casting for Jimmy Serrano. He has played mobsters before this but never with the humor exhibited here. All of his comic lines walk hand in hand with deep threats. And, in a key scene towards the end in a limo, Farina does away with the humor and goes for the frightening jugular. To hear his words coming out make your skin crawl. Farina walks that fine tightrope of foolishness and danger with great aplomb. After seeing him in this again I am reminded that I miss him........ Joe Pantoliano is equally strong as the bail bondman, Eddie. By turns smug and frazzled, ''Joey Pants'', you can see now, was warming up for his legendary portrayal of ''Ralphie'' in ''The Sopranos'' But, Eddie is a comic fool, not a killer. And, Pantoliano takes him out on wonderfully fun spin of the character wheel. His best moment is a telephone call with a far away De Niro. His screaming of curse words, along with his frustration, make this scene one of the highlights of the movie........ The best scene, I believe, is a quiet one. It is deep in the movie and it involves De Niro and Grodin in a railroad car. Much has happened to them both. At this moment in the film, De Niro is very angry with Grodin. His silence speaks volumes. And, Grodin's ''The Duke'', tries to break through. The scene starts off funny but quickly turns to sad and reflective. That it is late at night adds to the mood, for late night talks always bring forth confessions and affairs of the heart. What makes this scene my favorite is not so much what is being said as what is not being said. The silence is intriguing because Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin have set up the characters so well in the audiences mind that we know what they are thinking. They like each other and we want them to tell each other that. And, they do, in a surprising touching way........ This movie has action. This movie has comedy. This movie has pathos. It is all handled in a superior way by the actors, the director, Martin Brest, and, almost forgotten, by the writer, George Gallo. These men all converged in 1988 to tell an old story in a new way. This movie was a hit with the public and was very popular on video and cable but it seems to have fallen through the cracks as the years have gone on. But, I hear the lines out there in the public vernacular. When I come across someone who says, ''I've got two words for you: SHUT THE FUCK UP!'', I know that this is someone who is special...... Enjoy the movie, everyone.......