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The Hard Way

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source: The Hard Way

The Hard Way

When I saw this, I didn't expect much from it. However, it turned out to be just great - it just happened so to press all the right buttons! Michael J. Fox plays a PG-movie star (think Brendan Fraser) who wants to star in a serious cop flick. For this, he tags along with a real cop for a few days. But the real cop assigned to baby-sit him isn't exactly a fan of his, instead, he sees the wimsy character of Fox as a leech in his balls. This may sound like just any other buddy-movie "yea, they don't match from the starters but in the end, learn to get along", but give this little movie a chance, because: As bold as the casting, at least for what it comes to Fox, may sound, the chemistry really works here- you can almost see the sparks flying between the stars! Woods gives a powerhouse performance as a very "Dirty Harry" - like cop almost on the verge of a nervous breakdown because of his BS assignment. Fox is surprisingly good as his counter-part. And the directing is the usual good Badham- stuff, where a good action -comedy is spiced up with a little bad language and violent themes. I just don't understand how come he nowadays seems to have lost his touch? The man who did this and "Stakeout"? Even "Another stakeout" had it's moments...

The flimsy, barely-there plot of The Hard Way is about angry cop John Moss wanting to catch serial killer the Party Crasher but being unable to as he has been stuck with undercover actor Nick Lang, who is researching for a role. John and Nick irritate each other, John's fledgling relationship with Susan isn't working out and the Party Crasher, occasionally murdering people, hates John. That's the plot. There's no character development or detective work, two elements essential in buddy cop movies, and yet the film is heaving with clichés, which would work if handled in a tongue in cheek manner, after all the film does send up some cop drama clichés, but most are meant to be taken seriously. James Wood's performance as John Moss, angry, fast-talking and foul mouthed, does not come across as a real person, or a real detective as he doesn't do any police/detective work, just beats people up or threatens them, so he quickly becomes an irritating bore to watch. His mostly-off-screen relationship with new girlfriend Susan is also hard to believe. Neither seems to have any interest in the other's personality, and Susan gabbles and laughs nervously but doesn't appear to have anything else to her. Towards the end of the film she dumps John as it is too dangerous to date a cop, a fact she would surely have thought about sooner, she is then instantly proved correct when she is kidnapped by the villain, so why are John and Susan a couple at the end of the film? Set in a neon-filled, noisy, dirty, dark, overpopulated New York, The Hard Way is not enjoyable visually. Every scene in a public place is packed wall to wall with extras, with irritating cuts to street dancers in the middle of action sequences, and there are far too many supporting characters who at most get three scenes to have a line in, and all this gritty, dark, crowdedness makes a lot of the scenes hard to follow. The only visually interesting set is that of the giant Nick Lang billboard, Michael J Fox's enormous head, smoking a cigarette, which becomes involved in both the starting action sequence and the ending. This is advertising the film within the film, Smoking Gunn II, which amusingly spoofs action/adventure films. It is worrying that Smoking Gunn II looks a lot more enjoyable than The Hard Way. However, even this is overused and repetitive, as two action scenes at the end of the film, one following the other, parody Smoking Gunn II, one in a cinema and one on the billboard. It is difficult to understand, and unexplained, why the police have so much trouble catching the Party Crasher when they constantly witness him committing crimes, so it becomes tedious how many times he is caught/wounded/trapped but always magically escapes. This is also the worst performance of the film. What is Stephen Lang going for as the Party Crasher? He comes across as mentally disabled, his 'only kill bad people' crusade is never gone into and he is so underdeveloped that it makes no sense he is given scenes on his own. The Hard Way is a dull, clichéd cop thriller minus the thrills, held together entirely by Fox's amusing and energetic performance as actor Nick Lang. We have to wonder how similar Fox's own life at this time was to Lang's spoilt rich lifestyle.

If you have read the earlier comments then you will get the plot of this film, I avoided this film for ages, my friends all loved the film and out of spite I point blank refused to watch it!!! I eventually watched the film and have watched it over 100 times since, quality film, the cast is spot on, Woods and Fox are perfect foils for each other. The film is so underrated that it's criminal! It was originally planned that there would be sequels, but the film didn't do to well in the box office so those plans were scrapped. It must have just been the wrong time to release the film as it's much better than any other buddy film that I've seen including the Beverley hills cop efforts. The script is excellent, you will be quoting it to your friends I guarantee. For those of you that have seen the film, there was an old mcsorleys ale house (where fox pretends to be Susan) in Liverpool up until a few years ago, me and my mates made a point of going there to start our nights out (and yes we did order a dubbonet with a twist!) I recommend this film to anyone and everyone, pure genius.

Michael J Fox. What a star. I think you look back to The Hard Way and it makes you really hate the disease that takes away not just from him but us as comedy fans. So full of energy and vitality, a very physical actor, a gifted comedian; Michael J Fox made even the more routine of comedies (this one a take on the street police buddy action comedy so popular in the 80s) palatable. James Woods has always been a star. A "powerhouse" as Leonard Maltin likes to refer to Woods, he commands and impresses with that intensity and charisma at all times. Here, it was his chance to play a cop—a good one who is after an unstable, blond-haired, wicked-grinned Stephen Lang (he carved himself a niche for villainy of all sorts; the moment he shows up in Seagal's Fire Down Below you know he's no good, or his military hard-ass in Avatar) picking off "street criminals" (pimp, drug dealer, underground gun-maker)—tasked with the burden of shouldering a prima-donna diva action star, played by Fox. Fox is about to star in a film about a cop, and it is part of Fox's "method" to follow Woods, so he can get down the mannerisms, speech, and personality of the real deal. Woods, of course, would rather focus on catching a killer on the street, not carrying around a egotistical actor (obviously, Fox is too likable and endearing to be as annoying and grating as real ego-rich Hollywood stars) hoping to hone his craft by following close to the hip of an authentic streetwise detective. So that's the film in a nutshell. Toss in a hot Annabella Sciorra as Woods' romantic interest (she was in EVERYTHING at this time in the early 90s), Delroy Lindo as Woods' boss (and Fox supporter), and plenty of shootouts, explosions, and car destruction (Guess what? Yep, you, got it; a fruit stand is barreled through and a cop car takes a couple flips!), The Hard Way has plenty to offer those with an affinity for action buddy comedies that involve two totally different guys, such polar opposites, eventually coming together to stop a killer. Memorable moments include Fox awakening to find himself handcuffed to a bed (with Woods leaving behind a sign to mock him), Woods staging a faux "accidental murder" to frighten Fox away (going so far as to use a cop portraying an innocent bystander shot by Fox in a staged "collateral damage" ruse!), Fox exchanging gunfire with a hood (running with two other punks) in a subway station (with Woods coming to the rescue), and the climactic billboard sign overlooking the city scene where Lang is responsible for Sciorra hanging for dear life from a giant cigarette, Woods having to grab hold to the bill of a hat (granted it's a HUGE hat), and Fox grabbing hold to his own eye (granted this eye is slightly larger) with a rope he swings across his face (granted…okay, you get the picture) to rescue Sciorra before her cigarette snaps into. Fox gives us the expected laughs, but Woods isn't too shabby as the straight part of the act, his frustrations and aggravation at enduring such a tag-along leading to some fun moments, too. Woods has always been a phenomenal heavy, but this proves he can take on the part of one of the good guys...I really liked this one scene where Woods calls out Sciorra for the old argument of "I don't want to attach myself to the man who may never come home" by retorting, "We are always the one, though, depended upon with the bad goes down." Fox and Woods have some solid chemistry, which certainly doesn't hurt. Lang plays the part of the colorful lunatic (the one you would see mocked in "Last Action Hero"), with no restraint.

You often hear stories about actors spending some time with the actual people who do the job that they're going to be portraying on screen. If a movie star is going to play a cop in a role, they might ride around with the police for a few days to get a sense of their traits and experiences. Well this comedy takes that concept to the extreme and plays it purely for laughs. Michael J.Fox plays an Hollywood,pampered movie star of Indiana Jones type action movies who is sick of been labelled as a family oriented actor and wants to play meatier roles. He plans on playing a cop in a gritty new film, and in order to do some research, he is teamed up with New York's angriest, most unsociable detective James Woods. But he's on the trail of a psychotic serial killer and doesn't intend to let Fox get in the way. The plot isn't important here. It's the hilarious banter and excellent chemistry between the two lead stars that makes the film so much fun, while director John Badham milks the concept for all it's worth. He plays around with the cop movie conventions and bites the hand that feeds him with lots of swipes at Hollywood, before the likes of Last Action Hero, Showtime, and Hollywood Homicide got in on the act. The production design is terrific throughout and is as good as you could hope for what is essentially just an action comedy. Badham clearly put a lot of thought into his locations. The New York city streets in the film are crowded, dirty, and gritty looking,to further contrast Fox's Beverley Hills lifestyle. The stunts are impressive, and as the film goes on, the action sequences become more and more over the top, which suits the film because it puts Fox and Woods into situations similar to Fox's character's movies. The mayhem climaxes with a fun homage to North By Northwest. A great action comedy,and Fox and Woods set this apart from the usual buddy cop movies from the 80's and 90's. Loved it.

At my house, our summers have of late tended to turn into extended Michael J Fox marathons; last summer it was Family Ties on Netflix, and this summer is shaping up to be the summer of his obscure comedies. My mom knows we love MJF, so while grocery shopping, she picked up a four-movie DVD she found on a clearance rack, and one of the movies happened to be The Hard Way. I only watched it because my little sister asked me to, and I even brought my phone in the room in case I got bored (because that's what happened when she made me watch Midnight Madness, another little-known Fox film, his first role, actually). However, I never picked up my phone once! The film started out strong, with our first glimpse at the "party crasher," played with manic and slightly terrifying believability by Stephen Lang, and a joke involving Shakespeare plays that immediately got me hooked. Stephen Lang wasn't the only good actor in this movie; surprisingly, the whole thing was earnestly acted and nobody really bordered on cheesy, like they do in most bad comedies from that era. Michael J Fox was endearing- as usual- as the naive movie star shadowing a cop for a role, and even when he had emotionally difficult scenes, he never came off as cheesy (like he occasionally did in Family Ties). And James Woods was especially great as the love-stricken, NYPD cop. I'm usually very picky when it comes to movies- especially comedies- but I enjoyed this. If you're a Fox fan, definitely don't miss it!