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The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Blistering performances.

This movie is from when real good, watchable movies were being made. One of my all-time favorites, but you really do have to be from that age group to appreciate. My younger friends just don't get it... A great, action/comedy, from 2 really good comedians of the time. Billy Crystal & Gregory Hines make a very good duo, and the story line, while a bit predictable, provides for some very good action. Contains some exceptional one-liners from both main characters. Enough humor to keep you laughing, and enough action to make it interesting to watch. Someone called it an old-school version of "The Other Guys". It's WAY better than that, but it's not a terrible comparison. The guy that plays their Captain (Carla's ex-husband on Cheers) could have been much better, but he did an adequate job, as did the rest of the cast, backing up Crystal/Hines. Highly recommend!

This movie brings back a lot of memories for me. I was living in Chicago at the time this movie was being shot and it was on the news once or twice. I only saw it recently as I really did not want to see a movie with Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines as a couple of tough cops. Neither one looked like they can take down a girl scout let alone Chicago's toughest criminals. Neither one even know how to hold a gun properly. Plus at the time male cop buddy movies were a dime a dozen. The movie is about a couple (Crystal and Hines) of Chicago cops who suddenly find themselves on the trail of a big time drug dealer(Jimmy Smits). When the guy gets out on bail the boys are so mad that their captain tells them to cool off and they go to Florida. I'm not sure what their respite in the Sunshine state had to do with the movie but it was enjoyable to see Florida during the Miami Vice era again, complete with women in tiny bikinis. Anyways the boys get the idea of retiring and running a bar, but first they have to finish the case.Getting back to Chicago means it's time to get back to the case, which means there are going to be shootouts and car chases, typical of the buddy films of that era. The action sequences in the film are very good. They were fast paced and very well done. Not amateurish at all. There are several gunfight scenes, one in particular that really sticks out was shot in the then newly opened State of Illinois building. The car chase taking place on the 'L' or elevated train alone is worth putting this film on your Netflix list. It's easily one of the best car chases from that era. Casting Mr. Hines and Mr. Crystal as cops was a curious choice. As I said neither of them looked like they could take down a Girl Scout, but they sure do know how to deliver funny lines. Billy Crystal in particular certainly knows how to make things funny. When he was in shadows pretending to be an old lady and when he was pretending to be his boss on the phone. His comedic range is pretty good. Others in the cast played their role basically straight and really without much originality. They're all just straight men to the two leads."Running Scared" is a good action comedy that has no pretension of being anything else. It's a funny and entertaining. I have to say I'm a little biased because I lived in Chicago a long time and seeing the city again brings back so much memory. I mean I remember having been in some of the locales. Also I have to say seeing this movie is a reminder how lovely Darlanne Fluegel was. She played Billy Crystal's ex-wife. She's as lovely as Sharon Stone was during this era and a much better actress.

I had the opportunity to revisit this fun film last week and enjoyed it just as much as when I saw it first-run 20 years ago. For me, there are two things that make it such a winner: the match-up of Crystal and Hines, which was unfortunately not repeated, and the Chicago scenery. Adding in Darlanne Fluegel was just icing on the cake. And speaking of icing, any Chicagoan will laugh frequently during this film at the pitiful imitation snow, which looks more like frosting than precipitation (especially when you see it laying on top of very green tree leaves).Crystal was hot at the time after his year on SNL, and he manages to work in some of his character shtick here without sidetracking the plot. Hines had recently done White Nights and Cotton Club, so he was also on a roll. The two of them work naturally together in the funny AND serious moments of the film, and the dialog is crisp and clever. There are loads of buddy-cop clichés here, but for some reason they work well. Peter Hyams deserves credit for his snappy direction and good camera work, and for making good use of the locations.Speaking of the locations, let me add my own comments about the Chicago scenery. Gregory Hines' apartment is a building at the SW corner of Franklin St. and Institute Place. Lots of HILL STREET location work was also done on Franklin St because of the L tracks above the pavement. That building is also one block from the Chicago Avenue L station, which is a favorite of filmmakers because of the S curve of the tracks (you can see this station in DOZENS of films and TV shows). I used to work a block from there and everything was very familiar! There are some disconnects in the car chase scene. They leave O'Hare and turn off at River Road, and next thing you know, they're on a surface level CTA track, which I'm guessing is somewhere on the Ravenswood line (but nowhere near the airport). Next thing you know, they're entering the subway, which is quite far from where they started. And in the subway scene you can tell (thanks to DVR) that the tracks are merely painted reflective lines on concrete. (I never spotted that in the theater!) They pass through the Chicago avenue station, and what appears to be the curve by the Merchandise Mart station, and the crash takes place at the LaSalle/Van Buren station, which is at the south end of the Loop. (I'm 99% sure I could read the sign during that scene, as well as a billboard for the Channel 5 news team.) During the chase on the train tracks, you'll notice how cleverly Hyams intercuts low POV shots (not showing cars) with the shots of the cars themselves. Also, in the final ride to the State of Illinois building: they head south on Franklin (follow along on Google maps!) then turn left (east) on Grand at the big Zimmerman liquor store. Next time you see them, they're crossing the river on Michigan avenue coming south by the Wrigley building, a shot obviously inserted for scenic value only. Why? Because any Chicagoan with half a brain would have turned down LaSalle Street and gone straight to the goal, rather than driving all the way to Michigan just to cruise the shops on the Magnificent Mile! But, who cares? I love Chicago! And I love this flick!

This was one of the first "R"-rated movies I was "allowed" to see, thus I have a special fondness for it. However, the on-screen chemistry of Hines and Crystal transcends such sentimentality and makes this a gem. While the writing may be weak in some respects, these two consummate professionals overcame it. The supporting cast is outstanding, though I still see "Nick Tortelli" in the Captain. Furthermore, it's wonderful to see how far Jimmy Smits has come as an actor, though his role here is fun to watch.It is shameful Hines and Crystal did not do anything else together of any notoriety.