The Hard Way - Why I Still Love It 

Rating: 4 out of 5

THE mismatched buddy action comedy was a staple of the late 80s and 90s blockbuster season thanks to the likes of Stakeout, Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout and Midnight Run.

Hell, they have frequently re-appeared ever since courtesy of the likes of Rush Hour, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys.

John Badham’s The Hard Way rocked up in the summer of 1991 to put a meta spin on proceedings by having a hard-nosed cop, Jack Moss (James Woods), pair up with a spoilt Hollywood superstar, Nick Lang (Michael J Fox) for a rousing mix of OTT action and buddy humour.

For Lang, the partnership represents an opportunity to get away from the Indiana Jones meets James Bond-style fantasy action films with roman numerals in the title that he has become typecast in. He feels that shadowing Moss will allow him to land the plumb role of an on-screen cop.

But Moss is unamused, given that he’s obsessively on the trail of a bleached-blond psychopath who calls himself the Party Crasher (Stephen Lang), who likes to kill people in front of the cops, as well as struggling to hold down a fledgling relationship with his new girlfriend (Annabella Sciorra).

Over the course of the movie, the pair must learn to work together and even develop a mutual respect as the stakes become ever higher in their pursuit of Lang’s memorably tormenting killer.

Badham had already proven himself a dab hand at this kind of thing thanks to the success of 1987’s equally crowd pleasing Stakeout (as well as War Games and Short Curcuit) and would go on to direct the likes of The Assassin (with Bridget Fonda) and Drop Zone (with Wesley Snipes).

But here he hit something of a career high thanks to a genuinely witty and smart script, that also offered some Hollywood satire, some clever in-jokes, one good twist and a nice subversion of certain genre tropes (for its day).

The presence of Woods and Fox on top form also helped, with the former displaying some unexpectedly great comic timing and Fox showing a little more grit as he mixed things up post Back To The Future (he did Doc Hollywood the same year, having come off of Brian de Palma’s harrowing Casualties of War).

The two actors share a really great chemistry, by turns volatile and comedic, that hits all the right notes for maximum audience engagement and enjoyment.

Woods, in particular, is something of a revelation. An actor more renowned for his on-screen intensity in more dramatic fare such as Videodrome, Once Upon A Time in America and Salvador, he proves surprisingly natural at comedy.

To be fair, he does get to play his cop as intense - an opening scene that finds him remonstrating at fellow motorists as he bids to avoid being late for a date sets the tone for a performance full of manic energy. But there’s also comedic chops on displays when he has to attempt to express his feelings to Lang, who is ‘in character’ as Moss’ girlfriend is brilliantly done (especially at the point at which words become wind).

But his deadpan delivery is also good when employing sarcasm to highlight a worsening predicament or to belittle Lang, while there’s a nice line in sensitivity and vulnerability in some of his exchanges with Sciorra’s feisty love interest (she remains an under-rated actress with some brilliant credits to her name).

Woods is also convincing as the out and out action star, as comfortable firing a gun while throwing himself across a room as he is hanging off a vehicle (a la Martin Riggs) or trading blows with Lang’s deranged villain.

Indeed, one of the film’s few shortcomings is that there isn’t more interplay between Woods and Lang, given the quality of Lang’s villain and his potential to have been a really good psychological nemesis.

But Badham clearly chooses to place the movie’s emphasis on the relationship between Moss and Lang (Fox), thereby allowing Fox plenty of room to play - and you can tell the actor is having fun, whether poking fun at his own persona or lampooning Woods’ hard-man stereotypes.

Both leading men display a nice line in self-deprecating humour but Fox, especially, is happy to become the butt of the majority of the jokes - his egotistical, molly-cuddled movie star learning ‘the hard way’ what life is really like outside of Beverly Hills.

At first, this is achieved via comedy but in one of the film’s best kept secrets, Lang is also convincingly duped into thinking he has actually killed someone - a last act turn into temporarily darker territory that allows for some real maturity from Fox.

Prior to that, there’s some heat role reversal in having absolutely no romantic sub-plots for Fox’s smooth leading man; instead subverting expectations by having him be the emotional support and guidance for both Woods and Sciorra’s romance. Again, he displays some expert comic timing as he attempts to play matchmaker.

The Hard Way successfully delivers several set piece moments to savour: whether in an early scene-setter in a ghetto that finds Woods at his exasperated best, or the last act chases through cinemas and inside a giant version of Lang’s head.

An impressive supporting cast also makes their mark, especially Lang as the villain, but also Luis Guzman as Moss’ partner, a very young Cristina Ricci as Sciorra’s precocious daughter and the always superb Delroy Lindo as Moss’ boss, who is all too easily seduced by Lang’s Hollywood appeal (even excitedly phoning his wife at one point to brag about meeting him).

The Hard Way may not be as widely remembered as the likes of Lethal Weapon or The Rock (another great mis-matched pairing) but it deserves to be rated among the best set. It’s an undiscovered gem that is terrifically entertaining on just about every level.

It also continues to hold up pretty well, with the action still impressive, the banter still funny and the asides at the expense of Hollywood feeling (perhaps) even more relevant.