While the buddy cop action comedy film arguably got its start decades before, it really hit is heyday and subsequent decline by the end of the 1980s with genre-defining box office winners like 48 hrs. and Lethal Weapon. You know the drill: Two wise-cracking detectives who share almost nothing in common team up and face a barrage of messy violent drama before coming together to fight the bad guys and save the day. It’s a pretty sturdy formula and has found a lot of success with occasional bright spots in the modern era.
In 1986, a year before Lethal Weapon changed the game, director Peter Hyams directed a minor hit called Running Scared starring two popular stars of the day, dancer and actor Gregory Hines and comedian and actor Billy Crystal. While it didn’t make any significant impact on cinema and is largely forgotten, it remains a quality example of the style and a genuinely entertaining film with a good story with a good cast.
Set in Chicago, Ray Hughes (Hines) and Danny Costanzo (Crystal) are partners who have a reputation for doing things a little differently (because how else would they?), both on the street and in the office. Things heat up when they arrest a low level troublemaker named Snake (Joe Pantoliano), who they hope will help them nab new big fish drug dealer Julio Gonzales (Jimmy Smits). They force him to wear a wire and follow him to a secret meeting aboard a docked cargo ship, where things go sour. Gonzales is running guns and after a deadly gun battle, two other undercover cops save the day just when it looks like the end for our heroes.
Displeased by how the bust went down, Ray and Danny’s captain (Dan Hedaya) orders them to take a mandatory vacation, much to their frustration. However, heading to Key West, they spend a week in the sunshine and with the help of a bevy of beautiful women and crime free living, they think maybe it’s time to change their careers. Danny convinces Ray to go in on a themed bar, planning on an early retirement, but when they return to Chicago with their news, it’s back to the old life when they learn Gonzales in out on the streets again. Now they’re running scared. See what I did there?
As any good buddy cop movie must, it’s down to the buddies in making it work. Yes, Hyams knows a thing or two about staging a fun and often funny action scene (Gary DeVore and Jimmy Huston‘s script help a lot), but in Hines and Crystal’s hands, Running Scared succeeds. The two are pitch perfect in delivering authentic dialogue that feels entirely natural from a pair of characters who clearly have been through a lot. In later interviews, Crystal claimed that there was some improvisation1, one of the reasons he was cast, and it shows, but Hines is on equal footing revealing a keen sense of comic timing and a flare for drama. While neither are that convincing as action stars, nor are trying to be, they do make it seem they are quality cops with a strong history.
This is a world where the consequences aren’t too impactful, despite attempts to make it seems so. We never really feel all that concerned for their well-being, but that’s part of the appeal in these movies, the escapism in how no matter the trouble, our good guys prevail. What I like is how natural everything seems to be around the pair, Crystal and Hines so perfectly in sync they never miss a beat in making what they do believable. It’s genuinely fun, even when they go full 80s over-the-top firing their guns like it’s the old west.
I also liked the Chicago setting and the sort of wintery grizzled gritty look of the times, meant to contrast with the perceived paradise of the Florida coast. There’s more authenticity to all this than what most modern movies adhere to, overly produced and manufactured so that nothing seems real. You feel like you could just walk into many of the street scenes. They don’t make movies like this anymore.
Running Scared is a relic for sure, but that’s a good thing here, its time capsule-esque vibes and throwback attitude make it just the thing for fans of the old days. Fast paced, a good score from Rod Temperton, and excellent direction make this a must-see rental.