Midnight Run blu ray
One of my favourite comedies ever. What I love about this movie is as good as Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin are, there are a wealth of other character parts that are very well written and memorable. I think it was one of the first times De Niro showed a knack for subtle comedy, and Grodin was a complete revelation.
The scene where they take the 20 dollar bills from the smalltown bar is one of the best, most understated comedy moments ever.
Plus those characters... John Ashton's bullish Marvin, Dennis Farina's foul-mouthed mob boss, Yaphet Kotto's permenantly embarassed FBI agent, Joe Pantoliano's excitable bail bondsman, and even the two mafia goons, who come across like Laurel and Hardy wandered into a scene from Goodfellas.
And De Niro shows his serious side too...the scene where he see's his daughter for the first time in 9 years is heartbreaking, and its all in the eyes and the facial expression...he seems to be doing hardly anything at all, yet he conveys the hearbreak and emotion of that scene brilliantly.
Danny Elfman's music score is incredible - he fleshes out themes for each character, and the best of these is for Yaphet Kotto...as soon as you hear that music start, you just know Kotto is going to be humiliated yet again.
Blu ray pic is very good, but the score and soundtrack pack far more of a punch than on previous versions. Good extras too, new interviews with Ashton, Grodin, Pantoliano, Audio interview with Kotto and interview with writer George Gallo, plus an original featurette.
The scene where they take the 20 dollar bills from the smalltown bar is one of the best, most understated comedy moments ever.
Plus those characters... John Ashton's bullish Marvin, Dennis Farina's foul-mouthed mob boss, Yaphet Kotto's permenantly embarassed FBI agent, Joe Pantoliano's excitable bail bondsman, and even the two mafia goons, who come across like Laurel and Hardy wandered into a scene from Goodfellas.
And De Niro shows his serious side too...the scene where he see's his daughter for the first time in 9 years is heartbreaking, and its all in the eyes and the facial expression...he seems to be doing hardly anything at all, yet he conveys the hearbreak and emotion of that scene brilliantly.
Danny Elfman's music score is incredible - he fleshes out themes for each character, and the best of these is for Yaphet Kotto...as soon as you hear that music start, you just know Kotto is going to be humiliated yet again.
Blu ray pic is very good, but the score and soundtrack pack far more of a punch than on previous versions. Good extras too, new interviews with Ashton, Grodin, Pantoliano, Audio interview with Kotto and interview with writer George Gallo, plus an original featurette.
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Comments
I agree that it is a very underrated but entertaining film. After watching it a couple of time I thought to myself that Charles Grodin's character is a conscience or guardian angel to De Niro. As they continue their journey together Grodin points out that De Niro should get a new watch meaning any hope of a marriage reconciliation is over,. He also highlights his health problems such as ulcer and that smokes too much.
Good point.
In the same way many actors who play villains will often tell you they will play the character straight, in the firm belief that the character does not see anything wrong in what they are doing, no matter how awful their actions may be.
It's the antithesis of the traditional moustache twirling villains of old, cowboys with black hats etc. I understand it, because quite often the notion that the bad guy does not know or see himself as a bad guy can often make his actions seem even worse.
Similar with comedy - especially in a movie like this which relies very much on subtle, understated humour. The humour comes out of the writing, out of the situations, therefore there is no need for the actor to strain to be funny.
And a very good example of how it can go wrong...well, just look at most of Richard Pryor's later comedy movie efforts.
Bless him, I love the man for his classic stand-up routines (and if you want to see his best, most naturalistic movie performance...Blue Collar, no question)...but he made some absolutely dreadful movies in the 80's and 90's. They were rubbish, and he knew they were rubbish, so he indulged in his penchant for mugging and face-pulling, to try to make up for the poor lines and script.
To be fair his judgement was probably not the best around that time, for obviously well-documented reasons.
But the point is an actor like De Niro knows when he has a very well-written script and a good director, and knows at what level to pitch the comedy. He knows when most of the work is already done for him...he just has to play it straight and let the writer and director do the rest of the work.