The Hard Way (1991)

Lt. John Moss (James Woods) is an aggressive hard-nosed NYPD detective. His partner is Benny Pooley (Luis Guzmán) and his suffering girlfriend is Susan (Annabella Sciorra). He's after the crazy gunman Party Crasher (Stephen Lang). Nick Lang (Michael J. Fox) is a famous actor known for being action hero Joe Gunn. He is tired of doing the same thing again and wants to ride along with Moss. Captain Brix (Delroy Lindo) takes him off the case despite Moss's objections. Moss continues to investigate anyways even with the hyper pushy Lang tagging along.This is a buddy comedy where for the most part, the buddies don't get along. Woods is dialed up to 11 with his fast talking wild hard cop type. Fox is dialed up to 11 with his fast talking whiny Hollywood actor type. It may be better if either one could play the straight man in this duo. I like Woods' character more than Fox's. They're good for small doses but for the full movie, they wear out their welcome. The crazy killer, the gangs, the ghetto and the rest are all very fake. It's a fine movie to see these two actors act up a storm to get a laugh. I find that they annoyed me a little more than amused me.

Oh, its not very good, but its also not so bad. Yes, entertaining, no not really funny or exciting though and its billed as an action/comedy. The movie is full of skilled actors and Michael J. Fox, that formula has worked in the past, hey maybe it even worked this time around but don't ask me, or I guess you are kinda asking hence the review. John Badham is not a good director, he tells stories poorly. With the movie The Hard Way, Badham is given a story that has no life, he tells a crap story and he tells that crap story for crap. Every joke is telegraphed long before it plays out, no characters are ever in any real danger, and no words spoken are very memorable. Hey, The Hard Way is better than Lethal Weapon 3, or The Last Action Hero, or Red Dawn both original and the remake. That's gotta count for something right?

There are buddy cop movies and there are cop buddy movies, then there is John Badham's 1991 The Hard Way. Angst ridden, angry and street wise New York City police Detective Lt. John Moss (James Woods) has forced upon him the ivory towered, naïve and utterly irritating Hollywood star Nick Lang (Michael J. Fox) to further Lang's research into the life of "how to live the cop's life" for his latest movie.With the added work from writers' Lem Dobbs (Dark City, 1998), Michael Kozoll (First Blood, 1982) and Daniel Pyne (Fracture, 2007) a writing chemistry that works well together, particularly in the hands of John Badham (WarGames, 1983 and Short Circuit, 1986). Bringing these two giants, Woods and Fox, to the silver screen together is by no means an easy task if they are to gel, and this is exactly what has been done. With a chemistry on screen that is a highly intoxicating, humorous, witty and action filled with highly explosive personalities, and what a script too; quick, sharp and fun. This is a fun movie with a capitol "F", seeing Woods and Fox play off each other is simply stunning, it really is a pity that there were no outtakes during the end credits here as we can very plainly see these fine actors enjoying the pleasure of their work.Parodying the parody, The Hard Way is an entertaining spoof movie of street cop reality and movie star elite that when mixed can deliver a hard and soft movie of serious principles set against the whims of entertainment. Along side James Woods and Michael J. Fox we see Luis Guzmán, Karen Lynn Gorney's cameo role, coming back after a fourteen-year hiatus since her last role as Stephanie in John Badham's epic Saturday Night Fever (1977) and a young and delightful Christina Ricci, playing only her second role in her career. Then saving the best till last, we have Stephen Lang as the chilling and narcissistic serial killer The Party Crasher; creepy, very creepy.It is the work of the two leading men that are indelible to this piece, James Woods playing the hyper anxious stress ball trying to capture New York's latest killer and in the mean time trying his best to keep his relationship with New York beauty Annabella Sciorra. However, it is the role of undercover actor playing undercover cop "Ray Casanov", Michael J. Fox here has more than excelled himself and has proved that he is more than capable to being able to use comedy and wit, very refreshing stuff indeed. With the backup of James Woods The Hard Way shows that an oddball pairing makes a surprisingly satisfying arrest.

The Hard Way is an entertaining Cop Comedy that was mentioned on the Simpsons season 5 Episode Homer and Apu. James Woods looks convincing as a tough New York City Police Lieutenant. There is a scene in the film involving heights and a billboard with the picture of Michael J Fox on it. President Jack Kennedys artificial Intelligence computer suggested or ordered that I write about the big Crunch. He is either talking about my Fathers Chinese Intelligence nickname or Closed Universes. As I said before, there is dark matter at the outside of our universe left over from previous big bangs that slows expanding matter and causes a big crunch eventually. The Care Rank Ki Aliens, Et Aliens created by the Care Rank Ki, and Humans Created by the Care Rank Ki and Et Aliens have been through several big bangs and big crunches with their moonfleets and movable planets and are tens of billions of years old at least. Thanks to Faster than light subatomic particles called rollys that travel back through time, Our Creators know the future at least thousands of years ahead of time using either particle accelerators, tokamak fusion reactors or breeder fission reactors or Candu fission reactors.The other movies of Michael J Fox and James Woods are worth watching as well.