This Special Request comes from a long time friend who doesn’t understand this website… or movies made in the last 20 years apparently.
He recently asked why I hadn’t handled such ‘classics’ as Better off Dead or Running Scared. I’ve seen Better off Dead a number of years ago, and I don’t want to bag a recommended film, so Ladies and Gents might I introduce my Running Scared review for your information and enjoyment.
Compliments of Mr Negligence…
Nice practical poses guys.
If the multi-hyphenated 80s buddy-cop action-comedy Running Scared is to be believed being a lowly paid cop charged with keeping the peace in a scungy, rundown area is one of the biggest laughs possible. A shootout with drug dealers is simply an opportunity for frivolity and mirth, and a heavily armed criminal hell bent on ending your existence is merely a chance to crack wise and enjoy each others company.
Even a family funeral is a non-stop chucklefest…
Danny (Billy Crystal) and Ray (Gregory Hines) are the opposite of the usual ‘mismatched’ partners (think Mel and Danny, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, Arnie and anybody), they are so very ‘matched’ that they don’t chat as much as riff. They’re so close they even ‘clink’ donuts.
But all good things must (nearly) end, so after a career mis-step the duo are forced into vacation (I told you nearly being killed every day is fun, they don’t want to leave!), and they head South from the snowy, drab ghettos to sunny Miami beach.
A few days, several margaritas and some scantily clad beach babes later and Danny and Ray decide that perhaps booze filled sex-fests might just trump sludge-covered death traps, and they decide to retire from the force and buy a bar in Miami.
But first they decide to do the right thing and head back from vacation to hand in their notice personally, giving them one last chance at the local drug kingpin – and their nemesis – Gonzales (Jimmy Smits). Come on they couldn’t retire without taking down Gonzalez could they?
Running Scared is lighter than Paris Hilton’s head, and some of the jokes are as well worn as the contents of her pants. But that aside Crystal and Hines barely pause for breath between japes, never letting up regardless of their circumstance.
The film definitely emphasises the ‘action’ in action-comedy, but that said the shootouts and chases heat up in the latter stages of the film. Running Scared also boasts a few classic lines and a couple of memorable images in between the yuk-yuks. While it isn’t an all-time classic as a film, it must have made for a good 2 minute trailer in the late 80s.
Final Rating – 7 / 10. A decent, albeit forgettable buddy-cop effort with wall to wall jokes that fly by alongside the bullets aimed at the indefatigable ever cheery duo.
