Running Scared (1986)

★ 6.1 1h 47m 236 votes IMDb

Two street-wise Chicago cops have to shake off some rust after returning from a Key West vacation to pursue a drug dealer that nearly killed them in the past.

Running Scared

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Cast

Gregory Hines
Gregory Hines as Ray Hughes Died 2003 · New York City, New York, USA Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best kn...
Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal as Danny Costanzo Age 78 · Long Beach, Long Island, New York, USA William Edward "Billy" Crystal (born March 14, 1948) is an American actor, filmmaker, and comedian. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom “Soap” and became a Hol...
Steven Bauer
Steven Bauer as Det. Frank Sigliano Age 69 · Havana, Cuba Steven Bauer (born Esteban Ernesto Echevarría Samson; December 2, 1956) is a Cuban American businessman, entrepreneur, actor, producer and musician. He is known for his role as Manny Ribera in the 198...
Darlanne Fluegel
Darlanne Fluegel as Anna Costanzo Died 2017 · Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA ​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Darlanne Fluegel (November 25, 1953 - December 15, 2017) was an American actress, fashion model, film producer and professor. Fluegel appeared in the TV serie...
Joe Pantoliano
Joe Pantoliano as Snake Age 74 · Hoboken, New Jersey, USA Joseph Peter Pantoliano (born September 12, 1951) is an American actor who has played over 150 roles across film, television, and theater. He is best known for portraying Francis Fratelli in The Gooni...
Dan Hedaya
Dan Hedaya as Captain Logan Age 85 · Brooklyn, New York, USA Dan Hedaya (born July 24, 1940) is an American actor. While a student at Tufts University, he began performing at the campus theater. He often plays sleazy villains or uptight, wisecracking individual...
Jon Gries
Jon Gries as Det. Tony Montoya Age 68 · Glendale, California, USA An American actor, writer and director. He is known for his role in Napoleon Dynamite as Uncle Rico, and more recently "Lost" as Roger Linus, "Taken" as Casey, and "The Pretender" as Broots. From ear...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 7/10 Mar 27, 2019
Show me another career they let you shoot people.

Running Scared is directed by Peter Hyams (also on cinematography duties) and written by Gary DeVore, Gary DeVore and Jimmy Huston. It stars Billy Crystal, Gregory Hines, Steven Bauer, Darlanne Fluegel, Joe Pantoliano, Dan Hedaya, Jon Gries, Tracy Reed and Jimmy Smits. Music is by Rod Temperton.

The buddy buddy action/comedy cop formula has proved to be a most viable filmic commodity over the years. It gathered apace in the 1980s and right at the forefront is this often forgotten fun little treasure.

Plot has Hines and Crystal as Chicago cops, tough and full of wise cracks, they are tasked with trying to bring down high profile drug dealer Julio Gonzales (Smits). The timing is unfortunate because after a holiday in Key West the boys decide they have had enough of police work and want to retire there. Can they bring down Julio Gonzales? Can they stay alive in the process? Questions to be answered in an entertaining hour and forty five minutes.

The chemistry between Hines and Crystal is set in stone, they are a great pairing and very quickly you warm to them. As per genre requirements some of their character's methods are unconventional. the gags are thick and fast, and crucially very funny - while the support slots are nicely filled (Pantoliano a joy).

In the mix as the two cops ponder retirement is the looming presence of two younger cops ready to step into their shoes, which of course makes for sparky rivalry. There's the emotional beat of "the ex-wife" as a critical plot development, though amazingly Fluegel is under written and hardly in the piece! And Smits never fully convinces as the chief villain, but he also is weirdly under written.

Basically if you have a kink for this type of genre piece, especially ones produced in the 80s - and to have an understanding of that decades style of film making - then there's a good time to be had here. 7/10

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