Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Midnight Run Blu-ray Movie Review

Who's Mosely again?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 17, 2016

Among the odd cinematic bedfellows the vagaries of show business have thrown together is the pairing of Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin in Midnight Run, but it could have been even odder — namely, Robert De Niro and Cher. Yes, ladies and germs, because Hollywood is stuffed to the gills with “experts” who “know better”, at some point during pre-production and casting for this still ebullient and often very funny film it was suggested that it would really make more sense for Robert De Niro’s bounty hunter character Jack Walsh to be escorting a female prisoner back into the arms of justice. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed and director Martin Brest’s favorable reaction to (evidently extended) readings by Charles Grodin got him the part of nerdy and neurotic accountant Jonathan Mardukas, a nebbish who has nonetheless walked away with a cool $15 million stolen from mob boss Jimmy Serrano (Dennis Farina). Up until that point Grodin was probably best recognized as the hapless Lenny Cantrow in Elaine May’s wonderful The Heartbreak Kid, though it’s notable that Grodin had essayed several rather dark character supporting turns in such disparate films as Roman Polanski’s Rosemary's Baby and Mike Nichols’ Catch-22. One way or the other, Grodin’s comedy chops were probably better known than De Niro’s at that point, and one of the most wonderful surprises about Midnight Run is how undeniably funny De Niro is in the role, even if much of the humor stems from his reactions to the tics of Grodin’s character. Midnight Run helped cement if not actually form a subgenre that has become known as the “action comedy”, and it consistently fulfills both sides of that formulation, with laugh out loud bits interspersed with some tenser chase aspects.

Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) is an ex-cop from Chicago whose history with mobster Jimmy Serrano (Dennis Farina) led to Jack turning in his badge and becoming a bounty hunter. Jack is none too thrilled with this career arc, especially since the bail bondsman for whom he works, a schemer named Eddie Moscone (Joe Pantoliano), isn’t always the most trustworthy guy. Jack also isn’t a fan of being shot at by the suspects he’s trying to corral, and he’s ready to move on to greener, and hopefully calmer, pastures. When Eddie offers him a tidy sum to find missing accountant Jonathan Mardukas (Charles Grodin), Jack negotiates even better terms, since Eddie is desperate to get Mardukas back into custody before Eddie forfeits hundreds of thousands of dollars in bond money. Seemingly within seconds of accepting the job of finding and returning Mardukas, Jack is accosted first by FBI Agent Alonzo Mosely (Yaphet Kotto) and then by two goons who work for Serrano. Later, Jack's bounty hunter nemesis Marvin Dorfler (John Ashton) enters the fray in search of a big payday. It seems everyone wants Mardukas, albeit for different reasons.

George Gallo’s screenplay is a model of efficiency in terms of setting up the puzzle pieces and then watching everyone flail in their various attempts to assemble them into their own version of what they want to see happen. It’s therefore none too surprising when Jack almost instantly finds Mardukas (who has assumed the preposterous nickname The Duke, obviously culled from his surname not any perceived similarity to John Wayne). The rest of the film details Jack’s efforts to get the Manhattan bound Mardukas back to Los Angeles before the bond expires, five days into the future. What would seem to be one easy five hour or so jet ride to success instead turns into a series of vignettes that could in fact have been entitled Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

Midnight Run is a near perfect amalgamation of expertly drawn characters and a fun and funny premise. De Niro and Grodin play beautifully off each other, and in fact some of the funniest, perhaps even most surreal, moments in the film come later after the two have bonded and they begin to scam various locals out of cash to further their “adventures”. Kotto is hysterical as the no nonsense FBI agent who realizes early on he has probably disastrously lost control of the situation. Martin Brest directs with energy, keeping the road trip moving improbably but believably along.

Midnight Run Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Midnight Run is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout Select, a new imprint from Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Shout's product page and the sleeve of this release advertise a new 2K scan off of the interpositive, and the results have helped to ameliorate if not totally eliminate some of the issues addressed by Svet in his reviews of the previously released British and German Blu-rays of the film. Taking the evidently substandard Second Sight release out of the equation for the moment, this release certainly has a mostly well resolved grain structure, but perhaps unavoidably (at least given Svet's remarks about the German release), there are still variabilities in the fineness and/or coarseness of the grain on display. Contrast, for example, screenshots 11 (an intentionally dark capture) and 19, two of the grittier looking moments, with the more subtle texture of screenshot 1. There are even what I might term "interim" levels of coarseness as shown in examples like screenshots 7 and 10. That heterogeneity aside, this presentation boasts a generally (if variably) very organic look, and there are no apparent issues with any filtering, something Svet mentioned was a major detriment to the British release. There's quite appealing fine detail in close-ups and the palette is rather vivid at times as well (reds are especially well suffused). Finally there are no major issues with age related wear and tear, and similarly no problems with image instability. Some who prefer a more completely homogeneous appearance may want to downgrade my score, if only slightly, while those willing to cut the appearance even more slack than I have may conversely want to up the score a bit, but one way or the other my hunch is this presentation will please the film's many fans.

Note: I've attempted to come close to recreating at least a couple of screenshots from the above linked British and German versions so that those interested can do a side by side compare and contrast.

Midnight Run Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Midnight Run features lossless DTS-HD Master Audio tracks in both 5.1 and 2.0. The surround track has some rather surprising depth in the low end, with what sounds like low frequency strings or maybe synths augmenting a few cues in Danny Elfman's score, moments which really reverberate rather forcefully and spread through the side and rear channels very effectively. The surround track also provides nice immersion in the many more adventure themed moments in the film, like the chase between the helicopter and car and resulting firefight. Both tracks offer problem free accountings of dialogue and effects. Fidelity is excellent and the 5.1 track especially has some nicely varied dynamic range.

Midnight Run Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Robert De Niro (1080p; 8:51). Calling this an "interview" with the iconic actor may be stretching it a bit, for this is in reality a collection of clips (with some probably unintentionally funny narration) interspersed with brief (as in very brief) comments by De Niro.


• We've Got the Duke: An Interview with Actor Charles Grodin (1080p; 12:24) is an affable sit down with the actor, who discusses a number of interesting things like the other performers who wanted the role.


• Moscone Bail Bonds: An Interview with Actor Joe Pantoliano (1080p; 14:19) is a bit more introspective in quality, with Panotliano getting into some of his personal psychology and the like.


• Hey Marvin: An Interview with Actor John Ashton (1080p; 17:23) is a relaxed outing with the "other" bounty hunter of the movie, evidently caught here having a smoke on the golf course.


• I'm Mosely!: An Interview with Actor Yaphet Kotto (1080p; 7:36) is an audio interview with the actor which plays under a still of Kotto from the film.


• Midnight Writer: An Interview with Writer George Gallo (1080p; 24:43) is an interesting piece with Gallo discussing his career and some of his objectives in this film.


• Vintage "Making of" Featurette (1080p; 7:26) is an archival EPK.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:12)

Midnight Run Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I hadn't seen Midnight Run in several years when I revisited it again in preparation for this review. I had forgotten what an expertly funny comedy this film was, from Grodin's annoyingly lovable (lovably annoying?) complaining to De Niro's growing curmudgeonly acceptance of his "captive" (who's captured whom is one of this film's little twists), and (especially for me) Kotto's hilarious apoplexy over having his identity stolen. Some of the late machinations, especially the final showdown, are a bit overly calculated, but Midnight Run is a fantastic combination of buddy comedy, road movie and chase adventure. Technical merits are generally strong, the supplementary package appealing, and Midnight Run comes Highly recommended.