For the Konami Arcade Racing game, see Midnight Run (video game).

Midnight Run is a 1988 American action/comedy/buddy film starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin as a bounty hunter and his prisoner. The film's title originates from a bounty hunter phrase that refers to a task that is relatively easy.

The film was later followed by three made-for-TV movies produced in 1994, which did not feature any of the principal actors, although the above characters are carried over from the first film. The sequels also had a much lighter tone than the original, and did not seem to directly follow the canon established in the first film.

Principal cast:

• Robert De Niro as Jack Walsh
• Charles Grodin as Jonathan Mardukas
• Yaphet Kotto as FBI Agent Alonzo Mosely
• John Ashton as Marvin Dorfler
• Dennis Farina as Jimmy Serrano
• Joe Pantoliano as Eddie Moscone

Storyline

Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas (Grodin) is an accountant who embezzled $15 million from Las Vegas gangster Jimmy Serrano (Farina) and skipped bail. He is hiding in New York when his Los Angeles bail bondsman, Eddie Moscone (Pantoliano), hires Jack Walsh (De Niro), a former Chicago police officer now earning a living as a bounty hunter, to bring the accountant back to L.A. "It'll be a piece of cake, get in, get out," he promises on a Monday morning. "It's an easy gig, it's a midnight run." To get the $100,000 bounty, Walsh needs to get Mardukas back to L.A. before midnight on Friday, at which time Moscone forfeits the bail money he put up.

The FBI, led by the eternally put-upon Special Agent Alonzo Mosely (Kotto), want Mardukas under arrest to build their case against Serrano. Serrano, meanwhile, knows that Mardukas has access to financial information that could lead to his conviction, and has no intention of allowing him to live long enough to make that happen.

After tracing and grabbing Mardukas in Manhattan, Walsh is unable to take Mardukas to L.A. by plane due to Mardukas's professed fear of flying (aviophobia), which gets them thrown off their transcontinental flight. The pair embark on a wild cross-country chase (with Mardukas even temporarily piloting a plane, proving that his fear of flying was a ruse), relying on various unreliable modes of transportation, all the while dodging the FBI, Serrano's idiotic goons Tony (Richard Foronjy) and Joey (Robert Miranda) and dumb, rival bounty hunter Marvin Dorfler, hired by Moscone as insurance. The action is made even more interesting by the FBI tapping Moscone's phone, and Moscone's assistant, Jerry (Jack Kehoe), keeping Tony and Joey informed of Walsh's movements.

Walsh and Mardukas bicker constantly, a by-product of the combination of Walsh's rough-hewn personality and Mardukas's habit of nagging. The film was successful in part due to the low-key, humorous 'anti-chemistry' between the De Niro and Grodin personalities.

Much of the movie involves Mardukas's sincere effort to uncover the truth about his captor, a man he suspects is actually a decent guy beneath the violent behavior and 10-pack-a-day cigarette habit. In fact, Walsh was a former Chicago undercover detective who refused to go on the take of a heroin dealer tried to arrest, and was drummed out of the force after being framed for heroin possession by a colleague in retaliation and driven out of Chicago. The circumstances of Walsh's departure make him unpopular with the Chicago police force. His wife ended up remarrying the lieutenant who fired him, and Walsh hasn't seen his daughter since she was a little girl (in the movie, she says she is in the eighth grade). Mardukas eventually discovers that the gangster responsible for "the payroll" was Jimmy Serrano himself. Walsh, for his part, wants to see the job done so he can open a coffee shop with his promised $100,000 bounty.

After making it as far as Arizona, the two are chased by dozens of police cars. They narrowly manage to dodge the police, but Mardukas is captured by Marvin. Marvin, finally figuring out how much Mardukas is actually worth, decides to give him up to Tony and Joey for $1 million. However, Marvin inadvertently reveals where Mardukas is (via a towel from the hotel bathroom in the picture he took of Mardukas), and Mardukas is captured by Serrano's men. Still intent on finishing the job, Walsh calls Serrano's men and tells them that Mardukas gave him computer disks that have enough information to put Serrano away. Walsh threatens to turn the disks over to the FBI unless Serrano himself returns Mardukas to him at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

At the airport, Serrano and Walsh confront each other for the first time since Walsh left Chicago. The exchange is interrupted by Marvin, who sees the exchange going on, not knowing that the FBI are watching and waiting for Serrano to take possession of the disks (even though the disks have nothing on them, Serrano's taking possession of them would be enough to indict him). Walsh, whose microphone wire was knocked out by Marvin, yells to the FBI that Serrano has the disks. The FBI move in, arresting Serrano, his men, and Marvin. Walsh, meanwhile, takes Mardukas back to Los Angeles. After calling Eddie and telling him he has 'The Duke' in L.A. before the deadline, Walsh then tells Eddie that he's letting Mardukas go. Walsh explains to Mardukas that "I did what I wanted to do - I got you to L.A. before the deadline." Before Walsh can walk away, they exchange gifts - Walsh hands Mardukas his broken watch (a gift from his ex-wife when they first started dating, indicating that week-long annoyance Mardukas was the one who finally showed him that holding onto hope of being with her was foolish), and Mardukas hands Walsh his money belt - filled with $300,000 in $1,000 bills. Mardukas was planning on leaving before Walsh showed up, so he didn't have time to use the money. The two part as friends, telling each other a line they repeated: "See you in the next life." Mardukas then disappears, and Walsh tries to get a cab. However, since the cabbie doesn't have "change for a thousand," Walsh pulls up his collar. "Looks like I'm walkin'."

Production

After completing The Untouchables, De Niro wanted to try something different and decided on appearing in a comedy.^[1] He pursued the lead role in Penny Marshall's film, Big.^[1] Marshall was interested but the studio was not and the role went to Tom Hanks. Martin Brest, who directed Beverly Hills Cop, had developed a script with George Gallo that blended elements of comedy and action.^[1]

Paramount Pictures was originally interested in backing Midnight Run, but they wanted a big name star opposite De Niro in order to improve the film's chances at the box office.^[1] Their production executives suggested that the Mardukas character be changed to a woman and wanted Cher for the role in the hope she would provide some "sexual overtones."^[1] When Brest rejected the idea, Paramount suggested teaming De Niro up with Robin Williams, who became eager to get the role and offered to audition for Brest.^[1] However, Brest was impressed by Charles Grodin's audition with De Niro. The director felt that there was a real chemistry between the two actors. As a result, Paramount backed out and their UIP partner Universal Studios became interested in the project.^[1]

As Jack uncuffs the Duke on the train, the Duke says, "Thanks, 'cause they're starting to cut into my wrists." In fact, Grodin has permanent scars resulting from the handcuffs he had to wear for most of the film.^[2]

The Amarillo scenes were filmed in Globe, Arizona. The helicopter chase and river scenes were filmed at the nearby Salt River Canyon section of US 60/SR 77. All of Dennis Farina's scenes were filmed on location in Las Vegas. At the time, Farina was in Vegas filming his TV series Crime Story.

Award nominations

• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Robert De Niro)

Novelization

The novelization of the film was written by Paul Monette. There are significant differences from the movie. In addition to his other flaws, Jack is portrayed as becoming increasingly lecherous in his middle age. Marvin Dorfler is renamed Max Dorfler. Several references are made to Dorfler's bad hairpiece, while in the movie, he does not wear a hairpiece. Dorfler is killed by Tony Darvo before the climactic scene at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Moscone first offers Jack $25,000 to bring the Duke in. He raises it to $40,000 and finally to $50,000 before Jack demands $100,000 and gets it. In the film, Eddie, desperate to keep the $450,000 he posted, begins to say he'll give Jack $40,000, then ups it to $50,000. In both novel and film, however, when Jack and the Duke do not arrive at Los Angeles International Airport on time, Moscone calls Dorfler and says, "If you bring him in, I'll give you what I was gonna give Walsh: $25,000."

The novel explains why Jimmy Serrano left Chicago for Las Vegas: Although both cities have an infamous history of organized crime, there is more money and more respect to be made in Vegas, and Serrano considers leaving his post as Chicago's top drug kingpin and becoming the biggest boss in Vegas to be a "promotion." He lives in the top floor of the tallest casino-hotel in town, at a time when there were few real skyscrapers in Vegas. He sees another casino-hotel under construction, which will end up taller than his, and decides that someone will have to be hurt because of it. Since the film's 1988 release, several Vegas structures have been built much higher than the old hotels.

Themes and motifs

There are many themes in the film, but the main one is the clash between the rough Walsh and the middle-class Mardukas. Discussions about diet, smoking, financial responsibility and other topics spin out of control as prejudices fly.

There are motifs and running jokes in the film:

• Jack makes fun of the FBI agents' sunglasses, at one point calling Mosely "Agent Foster Grant"
• On the bus on Wednesday morning, the Duke tells Jack that they should visit Jack's ex-wife Gail and daughter Denise in Chicago. Jack says he can't, because "I'm not exactly popular with the Chicago police department." For the next 12 hours, the Duke keeps asking, "Why aren't you popular with the Chicago police department?" before Jack finally tells him about the Serrano connection. But because Serrano is the man trying to get the Duke killed, it takes until the freight-train ride on Friday morning before Jack admits that Serrano is also the mob boss who ran him out of Chicago, a fact that Moscone mentions in the film's first 10 minutes.
• Agent Mosely keeps stealing Dorfler's cigarettes. At one point, Dorfler says, "Why don't you quit, it'd be cheaper for both of us." Elsewhere in the film Dorfler warns De Niro's character, "Watch your cigarettes with this guy, Jack"
• Moscone's assistant, Jerry Geisler (Jack Kehoe), named for a 1940s Hollywood attorney, whose clients included Marilyn Monroe, keeps telling him that he's going out for donuts. He is really going to a pay phone to call Serrano's henchman Tony Darvo (Richard Foronjy).
• Darvo is hampered in his efforts, first to get Jack to accept a $1 million payoff instead of Moscone's $100,000, then to kill Jack and the Duke, by his dimwitted sidekick, Joey Ribuffo (Robert Miranda).
• The word "fuck" is used 132 times during the course of the movie, mostly by the foul-mouthed Walsh, a contrast to the more serene Mardukas (although Mardukas uses the word or one of its derivatives at least three times).

Trivia

• Producer/Director Martin Brest is featured in a cameo in the end scene at the airport. Marvin Dorfler walks up to a clerk (Martin Brest) and asks for a ticket back to LA. The clerk then asks "Will that be smoking or non-smoking?" to which Marvin replies "Take a wild guess".

• A mention to the film can be found in the lyric "Son is on a Midnight Run like De Niro" which can be found in the song 'Midnight' by A Tribe Called Quest in 1992.

Taglines

• "Monday: Escape with their lives from New York. Tuesday: Impersonate F.B.I. agents in Chicago. Wednesday: Steal plane in New Mexico. Thursday: Almost kill each other by accident. Friday: Almost kill each other on purpose"
• "Charles Grodin embezzled $15 million from the mob. The mob wants him dead. The FBI wants him alive. Robert DeNiro just wants him to shut up"
• "Robert De Niro has to get the FBI off his case, the mob off his trail, and Charles Grodin off his back!"

References

See also

Sequels

• Another Midnight Run
• Midnight Runaround
• Midnight Run for Your Life

External links

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