Robert De Niro plays a disillusioned ex-cop who is freelancing for a bail bond company. He has to get an embezzling accountant, played by Charles Grodin, who is trying to skip bond, back for his trial. Mayhem ensures.

The accountant, Jonathan Mardukas, doesn't want to go back, so Jack Walsh has to use all of his wiles, and a seemingly superhumanly knocky-out punch, to achieve the objective.

"What the heck is a Boil Band?"

"De Niro plays it for laughs in full color!!! A joy from the first f-word to the last!"

"A superior road movie. My only objection was that they seemed to be able to knock people out with a single punch too easily. I've seen professional wrestling, it just don't work like that mister!"

"Excellent music. I danced in the cinema when I saw this back in 1988. Oh, those were the days!"

"De Niro has a wonderfully crinkly face when he smiles. I was watching this movie just to see if his eyes disappeared. A remarkable achievement."

"Both hilariously light and funny and utterly chronically depressingly sad. A disaster. I want my money back."

Our two heroes bond. Walsh lets Mardukas go.

Oh, tiz a joy to see old crinkly-smiley-faced Robert De Niro, with cheruby, innocent-looking, Charles Grodin, at the height of their powers, acting their socks off on the big screen! It's like a veritable thespian ping pong match and the only winner is the grateful viewer!

Acting of this caliber is a joy to behold, it's just a bit of a shame that some of the violence is a little professional wrestling-y in places. Indeed, Grodin's character is so easily knocked unconscious in this movie, the viewer is left to wonder if there isn't something wrong with his brain. Perhaps his brain is too loose in his head? Does he get knocked out if he switches the shower up to full throttle? It's annoyances like these that can't help but detract from what is otherwise a nicely acted and scripted movie that rolls pleasingly along.

Beef steak and genetically modified hat-sized tomatoes.

Any more f words in this movie and you would probably lose the flow of the dialogue.

The only improvement might be to put the f word in the title of the movie.

Midnight F-word Run anybody?

It's a bit cartoony in places (it isn't really that easy to knock someone unconscious with a single punch to the chin).

10. The best (most unlikely) one is when Grodin's character is sitting down in a car!

25

Very. It's a relief that you can see anything through the smoke at all on the screen at times. Not one to watch if a smelly-vision version is ever released.

A great fun, rough-and-tumble road movie with a heart. It will entertain throughout, even though it's a little bit annoying in places.

August 16, 2006