Related Directory Categories
Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
The Hard Way (1991 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Hard Way | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster. |
|
| Directed by | John Badham |
| Produced by | Lem Dobbs Michael Kozoll |
| Starring | James Woods Michael J. Fox |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Running time | 111 min. |
| Country | U.S. |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Hard Way is a 1991 action-comedy film starring James Woods and Michael J. Fox and directed by John Badham. The film also had notable performances by Stephen Lang, Annabella Sciorra, Luis Guzmán, LL Cool J, Delroy Lindo, Penny Marshall, and Bryant Gumbel, as himself. Also making early appearances were Christina Ricci, Mos Def, Kathy Najimy, Michael Badalucco, Mary Mara, and Lewis Black. It was the first film appearance in 14 years of Karen Gorney, since she starred in Badham's Saturday Night Fever in 1977.
Contents |
Fox stars as Nick Lang, a rich and spoiled Hollywood actor who grew to fame as a child star but is now best known as "Smoking" Joe Gunn, the title character in a series of highly popular action films that seem to be Indiana Jones rip-offs. Despite his extreme popularity as a celebrity, Lang feels that he can't take his career seriously until he lands "mature" roles, and defies his agent's advice by openly competing with Mel Gibson (who is mentioned but never appears) for the leading role in the heavy cop drama Blood on the Asphalt. To gain the upper hand on Gibson, Lang "prepares" for the role by attempting to be an actual cop. To do this, he pulls strings with Mayor David Dinkins and is appointed as a partner to a homicide detective on the NYPD, Lieutenant John Moss (Woods). This frustrates Moss for several reasons, most notably because it pulls him off of the case he was investigating, a serial killer known as "the Party Crasher" (played by Lang). Moss defies orders by continuing the investigation anyway and repeatedly trying to ditch Lang, whose constant questions and other annoying habits nearly drive Moss insane. In typical buddy movie fashion, Lang and Moss end up becoming unlikely friends despite their differences, and ultimately team up to defeat the Party Crasher.
This movie was remade in Hindi under the title "Main Khiladi Tu Anari" (I am the hero, you the dimwit) with Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan reprising the roles of James Woods and Michael J. Fox respectively. The situations and dialogues were translated verbatim in Hindi. The movie went on to become a big hit in 1993-94.
The Simpsons episode "Homer and Apu (#5.13)" geust stars James Woods with the joke that he is working at the Kwik-E-Mart because he was researching a role - like Michael J. Fox's character (Nick Lang) was in this movie which James Woods had a part in but as the opposite role.
In this episode James Woods also lists this movie as his previous work when interviewed to be employed by the Kwik-E-Mart.
- Michael J. Fox ... Nick Lang/Ray Casanov
- James Woods ... Detective Lt. John Moss, NYPD
- Stephen Lang ... Party Crasher
- Annabella Sciorra ... Susan
- John Capodice ... Detective Grainy, NYPD
- Delroy Lindo ... Captain Brix, NYPD
- Luis Guzmán ... Detective Benny Pooley, NYPD
- LL Cool J ... Detective Billy, NYPD
- Mary Mara ... Detective China, NYPD
- Bruce Goldberg ... Taxi Cab Driver
- Matt Damon ... Criminal