The Hard Way

1991 "There's only one way these two are going to get along..."
6.3| 1h51m| R| en| More Info
Released: 08 March 1991 Released
Producted By: Universal Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Seeking to raise his credibility as an actor and to land a role as a tough cop on a new show, Hollywood action star Nick Lang works a deal with New York City Police Capt. Brix, who by chance is one of his fans. Nick will be paired with detective Lt. John Moss and learn how to act like a real cop. But when Nick drives John crazy with questions and imitating him, he gets in the way of John's pursuit of a serial killer.

Genre

Action, Comedy, Crime

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Director

John Badham

Production Companies

Universal Pictures

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The Hard Way Audience Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped
Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
statuskuo This stands up to the test of time. I recall, at the tail end of the 80's to the early 90's Michael J. Fox was attempting to shed his Alex Keaton image and segue into features. This along with "Casualties of War" and "Bright Lights, Big City" seemed to complete his trilogy of "adult material" movies. This was also in the midst of buddy-cop movies that it seems to be spoofing. I love Badham's direction in this film. Everything has a nice fast clip to it. The action pieces follow logic without being too showy. And...you really have to marvel at Badham's thrift when it came to action without the super budget.I got the feeling that Fox may've been spoofing a fellow actor in his "Method" way of going about learning to be a cop. That he was channeling the same over-thinking actor processes that Downey does to the extreme in "Tropic Thunder." In lesser hands, I think Nick Lang could've been a terrible caricature. But he skates a really fine line, and does it with such joy you love spending time with his spoiled brat complex.Also very under appreciated is Delroy Lindo's spin at the Captain role. You expect him to be a tough-as-nails screamer, but in reality...he's just a star-struck fan like we would all probably be. And it really lends itself to great humor to the frustrated Woods seriousness.It's a really fun movie.
FlashCallahan Nick Lang is a famous actor, well know for his action movies.For the next film he needs the proper motivation and inspiration for his roll.Thus he teams up with the reluctant N.Y. cop John Moss.Not only does he have to put up with Nick who is laborious and out of touch with realities, but he also has to catch a cold-blooded murderer...Another John Badham movie that deserves more recognition for it's beautiful set pieces and wonderful non CGI stunts and explosions.Fox and Woods are great (if a little too profane) as the mismatched duo who never get on despite their similarities. Woods Moss is the typical eighties cliché of a cop, eating bad food, smoking, swearing and drinking, but has a heart of gold and a woman who loves him.But the good spin on this sub genre is the fact that Fox is playing a movie star pretending to be a cop, in order to grab the role of a cop. This would have been genius all on its own, but then add Lang as a psycho serial killer, you have something really special on your hands.The only problem with the film is that it's a little too dark to be an out and out comedy, which the trailers depicted it as, and a little too corny to be an out and out action movie, so it's stuck in the middle of a delicious limbo, which Badham makes the most of.The performances are wonderful, even if Fox starts to grate as the whiney star, and the supporting cast are fantastic.It's a shame that this movie hasn't had more recognition, it's hardly ever been on TV in England (In the last 5 years not once) and not many people have heard of it, which is a shame, as it's a delightful movie.
gcd70 Good action-comedy from veteran director John Badham, a man who usually delivers. James Woods and Michael J. Fox are in good form as angry cop and spoiled movie star respectively.Nick Lang (Fox) decides he wants to do serious movie roles, and works side by side with cop Woods to try and get a feel for life as a New York cop. The pair work very well together (surprisingly), and there are some genuinely funny moments, including some great one-liners and sarcastic humour from James Woods."The Hard Way" never gets too serious, and is good, if light, entertainment.Friday, June 28, 1991 - Greater Union Melbourne
Robert J. Maxwell There is this hypomanic impatient fearless New York cop (James Woods, who else?) in pursuit of a serial killer known as The Party Crasher. Then there is this terribly wealthy, effete, spoiled Hollywood actor (Michael J. Fox) who's been churning out serial Nick Lang action movies, each followed by a Roman numeral.Fox happens to spot Woods' bloodied face on TV news and decides he wants to bunk with Woods, live Woods' life with him, do his job with him. He adores Woods as "the real thing". What he learns from Woods will be incorporated into the Nick Lang movies to lend them more verisimilitude.Basically, that's it. You could sit back for an hour or two and dream up most of the funny exchanges and ridiculous events. (It's a comedy.) The wisecracks are endless. A lot of the humor depends on insults aimed at Fox. He's called -- let me think, I have to be careful here -- a cheeseball, a maggot, a Dickless Tracy, and other things, some of them so shocking that no respectable viewer could possibly comprehend them.After a battle with a gang, Fox stops in his tracks, feels his eye, and remarks anxiously, "I think I lost a contact out there." I don't know how many mismatched cop movies you've seen, but I'll mention in passing all of the Dirty Harry movies, all of the Lethal Weapon movies, "Dragnet," one with Ryan O'Neal and John Hurt the name of which I forget, all of the Stakeout movies. One of them, "Foster and Laurie", is pretty good. At one point we get a brief trailer for a Nick Lang movie which parodies the cop movie genre. This entire movie is like that parody.What audience is it aimed at? Well, it starts off in the first scene with a car speeding through the streets of New York, banging into other vehicles, James Woods behind the wheel, screaming obscenities, gesticulating wildly, and doing odd topological things with his face -- because he's late for a date. The speeding car, however, leads directly to a shoot out in a crowded nightclub. The bodies fall in slow motion.If that opening grabs you, then this may be your movie.