Stakeout (1987)

"Stakeout" is a perfectly packaged film which has been expertly crafted to successfully achieve maximum results. It has been aimed directly at the commercial market and this would ordinarily mean a somewhat cynical and by-the-numbers motion picture experience with lots of money thrown at it to accommodate the noisy action sequences with very little attention being paid to the rest of it. Of course a good deal of that also applies here, although with the significant difference being a lot more attention has been paid to making this entertaining above all else. What all this amounts to on this occasion is a very engaging and well paced film with considerably more depth of character and story than you would expect and it has a fair share of humorous and perilous surprises thrown into the mix for good measure.