cult film freak: ROBERT DENIRO TEAMS WITH CHARLES GRODIN IN 'MIDNIGHT RUN'

Robert DeNiro in MIDNIGHT RUN Year: 1988 Rating: ****1/2

Director Martin Brest's action/comedy MIDNIGHT RUN is a double-edged sword for Robert De Niro: while it moved him from the cult into the mainstream, he's been continuously selling-out (with the exception of GOODFELLAS and JACKIE BROWN) and cashing-in ever since...

But not like here, keeping his unique edge as tough yet vulnerable bounty-hunting Jack Walsh, partnered with mob accountant turned mob-targeted Charles Grodin, nicknamed Duke but more of an uptight Felix to Jack's mangy Oscar, their bickering dialogue between action sequences providing the best moments in a terrific non-stop ride...

Charles Grodin and Robert De Niro in MIDNIGHT RUN

And there's a third ingredient that heightens both the overall pace and comedy in Brest's BEVERLY HILLS COP actor John Ashton as DeNiro's unpredictable rival Marvin Dorfler, both working for sleazeball bailbondsman Joe Pantoliano in a cross-country cat-and-mouse involving mob boss Dennis Farina and FBI agent Yaphet Kotto...

Providing obstacles from one scene to the next... each like its very own vignette with a beginning, middle and end using trains, planes and automobiles with a run-time that could be overlong... backed by a rock/blues score that could be redundant... had De Niro and Grodin not been so perfectly imperfectly suited.