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Midnight Run • The Next Reel
Infrequent filmmaker Martin Brest may have directed the box office bombs Gigli and Meet Joe Black, but he also directed the huge critical and commercial successes Beverly Hills Cop and Scent of a Woman. Somewhere in the middle of these films, he made a fantastic action-comedy about a bounty hunter taking a criminal across country to collect his reward. That's right, we're talking about Midnight Run, a part of our Couples on the Run series. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — on this week's episode of The Next Reel as we discuss the actors in this film, particularly Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Joe Pantoliano, Yaphet Kotto and Dennis Farina, and how they work for us now 25 years after the film first came out — some better than others. We chat about the nature of the action-comedy film, particularly those from the 80s, and how the comedy has fared as time's worn on. We talk about the great script by George Gallo and how it stands out in its genre because of the honestly written characters that are developed well over the course of the story. And we talk about the crew who worked on it with Brest, notably Danny Elfman turning in one of his early great scores that definitely veers away from the wacky. It's a film that holds up well — mostly — and one we have a great time talking about. Listen in!
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