The Hard Way (1991 film)
Encyclopedia
The Hard Way is a 1991
action
-comedy film
starring Michael J. Fox
and James Woods
. It is 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. Famous Bollywood
actors Akshay Kumar
and Saif Ali Khan
starred in the 1994's successful Indian remake called Main Khiladi Tu Anari
.
Around a decade later, Michael J. Fox and James Woods were paired up once more by Columbia Pictures
as the voices of Stuart Little and Falcon in the 2002
film
Stuart Little 2
.
/vigilante
known as the "Party Crasher" (Stephen Lang
) telephones the police
, notifying them that he is about to murder another individual at a night club, daring them to stop him. Police converge on the night club, but the officers, including NYPD cop John Moss (James Woods
), are unable to stop the gunshot killing of a local drug dealer. The Party Crasher flees in the ensuing chaos, and Moss is thrown off a car while trying to stop the killer. While Moss has his injuries tended to, he barks some obscene comments at media
members and cameras.
Out in Hollywood, Nick Lang (Michael J. Fox
) is a rich and spoiled movie star
who is best known as "Smoking" Joe Gunn, the title character in a series of highly popular pulp
action
films (similar to Indiana Jones
). In order to be taken more seriously as an actor, he is vying for the leading role in the heavy cop drama Blood on the Asphalt. Nick vows to "prepare" for the role by attempting to be an actual cop
. After seeing Moss's outburst on TV, Nick pulls strings with NYC Mayor David Dinkins
to be assigned as Moss's new partner on the force. Moss wants no part of the deal, but is forced to comply by his captain (Delroy Lindo
), who just happens to be a huge Nick Lang fan. To make matters worse, babysitting Nick means that Moss will have to be removed from the Party Crasher case.
Moss defies orders by continuing the investigation anyway and repeatedly trying to ditch Nick, whose constant questions and other annoying habits (such as mimicking all Moss's movements) nearly drive Moss insane. Nick wants to know what it feels like to be a cop and is quickly thrust forward into some serious situations he is not prepared for, while Moss constantly reminds him that this is not a movie. Meanwhile, as Moss makes progress on finding the Party Crasher, he is also trying to juggle a new romance with Susan (Annabella Sciorra
). The divorced Moss is unable to communicate with her or open up, and Nick offers advice to him on how to interact with women.
Moss takes Nick to a dark building to catch a perp, ordering him to stay put and giving the actor a real gun in case of an emergency. Nick, however, does not stay put and enters the building, shooting a man who he believes is a criminal chasing Moss. The man is just an innocent bystander, though, and Nick is horrified. Moss agrees to cover up the act, and urges Nick to leave town immediately. Nick returns from the airport to the police station to confess his sins, only to see that the "dead man" is actually a fellow cop, alive and well. Moss engineered the whole stunt to get Nick out of town.
Nick tracks Moss down to seek revenge
but ends up stumbling on a confrontation between Moss and The Party Crasher (during which he saves Moss's life). The Party Crasher is wounded, but he kills several people and escapes. After Moss is told by Susan that his unstable life as a cop will never allow them to have a relationship, he is unwelcomely visited by Nick. Nick predicts that The Party Crasher will follow storytelling protocol and seek out Moss's loved ones in this, the third act of their story together. Nick is right, and Susan is abducted. Moss and Nick confront The Party Crasher on a rooftop and battle it out. Susan is saved after Moss throws the Party Crasher off the rooftop to his apparent death, but Nick is shot in the shoulder, while saving Moss again.
The movie cuts forward in time, revealing that Nick survived, and already filmed Blood on the Asphalt. Moss, reunited with Susan, watches the movie in a theater and comments that all Nick's lines were originally his.
episode "Homer and Apu
(#5.13)" guest 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.
1991 in film
The year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York* Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.*November...
action
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
-comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
starring Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
and James Woods
James Woods
James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
. It is directed by John Badham
John Badham
- External links :...
. The film also had notable performances by Stephen Lang
Stephen Lang (actor)
Stephen Lang is an American actor and playwright. He started in theatre on Broadway but is well known for his film portrayals of Stonewall Jackson in Gods and Generals and George Pickett in Gettysburg , as well as for his 2009 roles as Colonel Miles Quaritch in Avatar and as Texan lawman Charles...
, Annabella Sciorra
Annabella Sciorra
Annabella Sciorra is an American film, television, and stage actress. Sciorra received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead for the 1989 film True Love, and came to widespread attention in her co-lead role in Spike Lee's 1991 film Jungle Fever...
, Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....
, LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
, Delroy Lindo
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
, Penny Marshall
Penny Marshall
Penny Marshall is an American actress, producer and director.After playing several small roles for television, she was cast as Laverne DeFazio in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley...
, and Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Charles Gumbel is an American television journalist and sportscaster. He is best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's The Today Show. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel.-Early life:...
, as himself. Also making early appearances were Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
, Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
, Kathy Najimy
Kathy Najimy
Kathy Ann Najimy is an American actress, most notable as Olive Massery on the television series Veronica's Closet, Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act and the voice of Peggy Hill on the animated television series King of the Hill. Prior to her film work, she was best known for two Off Broadway shows...
, Michael Badalucco
Michael Badalucco
Michael Badalucco is an American actor most famous for his role as lawyer Jimmy Berluti on the ABC legal drama The Practice...
, Mary Mara
Mary Mara
Mary Mara is an American TV and film actress from Syracuse, New York known for her recurring role as Inspector Bryn Carson on Nash Bridges and primetime dramas ER and Law & Order. She also appeared in Mr. Saturday Night....
, and Lewis Black
Lewis Black
Lewis Niles Black is an American stand-up comedian, author, playwright, social critic and actor. He is known for his comedy style, which often includes simulating a mental breakdown, or an increasingly angry rant, ridiculing history, politics, religion, trends and cultural phenomena...
. It was the first film appearance in 14 years of Karen Gorney, since she starred in Badham's Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 drama film directed by John Badham and starring: John Travolta as Tony Manero, an immature young man whose weekends are spent visiting a local Brooklyn discothèque; Karen Lynn Gorney as his dance partner and eventual friend; and Donna Pescow as Tony's former dance...
in 1977. Famous Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
actors Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar is an Indian film actor, producer and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he primarily starred in action films and was particularly known for his appearances in feature films commonly called the "Khiladi series",...
and Saif Ali Khan
Saif Ali Khan
Saif Ali Khan is an Indian actor known for his work in Bollywood films. He is the son of the late former Nawab of Pataudi, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, and actress Sharmila Tagore. He has two sisters: Saba Ali Khan and actress Soha Ali Khan....
starred in the 1994's successful Indian remake called Main Khiladi Tu Anari
Main Khiladi Tu Anari
Main Khiladi Tu Anari is a 1994 Bollywood film. The film is a remake of the 1991 Hollywood film The Hard Way. The films screenplay is by Sachin Bhowmick...
.
Around a decade later, Michael J. Fox and James Woods were paired up once more by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
as the voices of Stuart Little and Falcon in the 2002
2002 in film
The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Stuart Little 2
Stuart Little 2
Stuart Little 2 is a 2002 American live action and CGI animated film, directed by Rob Minkoff and starring Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie and Jonathan Lipnicki and the voices of Michael J. Fox, Nathan Lane, Melanie Griffith, James Woods and Steve Zahn. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film and includes...
.
Plot
A serial killerSerial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
/vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
known as the "Party Crasher" (Stephen Lang
Stephen Lang (actor)
Stephen Lang is an American actor and playwright. He started in theatre on Broadway but is well known for his film portrayals of Stonewall Jackson in Gods and Generals and George Pickett in Gettysburg , as well as for his 2009 roles as Colonel Miles Quaritch in Avatar and as Texan lawman Charles...
) telephones the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, notifying them that he is about to murder another individual at a night club, daring them to stop him. Police converge on the night club, but the officers, including NYPD cop John Moss (James Woods
James Woods
James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
), are unable to stop the gunshot killing of a local drug dealer. The Party Crasher flees in the ensuing chaos, and Moss is thrown off a car while trying to stop the killer. While Moss has his injuries tended to, he barks some obscene comments at media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
members and cameras.
Out in Hollywood, Nick Lang (Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
) is a rich and spoiled movie star
Movie star
A movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...
who is best known as "Smoking" Joe Gunn, the title character in a series of highly popular pulp
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
action
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
films (similar to Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
). In order to be taken more seriously as an actor, he is vying for the leading role in the heavy cop drama Blood on the Asphalt. Nick vows to "prepare" for the role by attempting to be an actual cop
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
. After seeing Moss's outburst on TV, Nick pulls strings with NYC Mayor David Dinkins
David Dinkins
David Norman Dinkins is a former politician from New York City. He was the Mayor of New York City from 1990 through 1993; he was the first and is, to date, the only African American to hold that office.-Early life:...
to be assigned as Moss's new partner on the force. Moss wants no part of the deal, but is forced to comply by his captain (Delroy Lindo
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
), who just happens to be a huge Nick Lang fan. To make matters worse, babysitting Nick means that Moss will have to be removed from the Party Crasher case.
Moss defies orders by continuing the investigation anyway and repeatedly trying to ditch Nick, whose constant questions and other annoying habits (such as mimicking all Moss's movements) nearly drive Moss insane. Nick wants to know what it feels like to be a cop and is quickly thrust forward into some serious situations he is not prepared for, while Moss constantly reminds him that this is not a movie. Meanwhile, as Moss makes progress on finding the Party Crasher, he is also trying to juggle a new romance with Susan (Annabella Sciorra
Annabella Sciorra
Annabella Sciorra is an American film, television, and stage actress. Sciorra received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead for the 1989 film True Love, and came to widespread attention in her co-lead role in Spike Lee's 1991 film Jungle Fever...
). The divorced Moss is unable to communicate with her or open up, and Nick offers advice to him on how to interact with women.
Moss takes Nick to a dark building to catch a perp, ordering him to stay put and giving the actor a real gun in case of an emergency. Nick, however, does not stay put and enters the building, shooting a man who he believes is a criminal chasing Moss. The man is just an innocent bystander, though, and Nick is horrified. Moss agrees to cover up the act, and urges Nick to leave town immediately. Nick returns from the airport to the police station to confess his sins, only to see that the "dead man" is actually a fellow cop, alive and well. Moss engineered the whole stunt to get Nick out of town.
Nick tracks Moss down to seek revenge
Revenge
Revenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form of justice.-Function in society:Some societies believe that the...
but ends up stumbling on a confrontation between Moss and The Party Crasher (during which he saves Moss's life). The Party Crasher is wounded, but he kills several people and escapes. After Moss is told by Susan that his unstable life as a cop will never allow them to have a relationship, he is unwelcomely visited by Nick. Nick predicts that The Party Crasher will follow storytelling protocol and seek out Moss's loved ones in this, the third act of their story together. Nick is right, and Susan is abducted. Moss and Nick confront The Party Crasher on a rooftop and battle it out. Susan is saved after Moss throws the Party Crasher off the rooftop to his apparent death, but Nick is shot in the shoulder, while saving Moss again.
The movie cuts forward in time, revealing that Nick survived, and already filmed Blood on the Asphalt. Moss, reunited with Susan, watches the movie in a theater and comments that all Nick's lines were originally his.
Outside references
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "Homer and Apu
Homer and Apu
"Homer and Apu" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons fifth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 10, 1994. In the episode, Homer participates in a hidden camera investigation of the expired meat selling at the Kwik-E-Mart. Apu is immediately fired and...
(#5.13)" guest 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.
Main cast
- Michael J. Fox ... Nick Lang/Ray Casanov
- James Woods ... Detective Lt. John Moss, NYPD
- Stephen Lang ... Party Crasher
- Annabella SciorraAnnabella SciorraAnnabella Sciorra is an American film, television, and stage actress. Sciorra received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead for the 1989 film True Love, and came to widespread attention in her co-lead role in Spike Lee's 1991 film Jungle Fever...
... Susan - John Capodice ... Detective Grainy, NYPD
- Delroy LindoDelroy LindoDelroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
... Captain Brix, NYPD - Luis GuzmánLuis GuzmánLuis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....
... Detective Benny Pooley, NYPD - LL Cool JLL Cool JJames Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
... Detective Billy, NYPD - Mary MaraMary MaraMary Mara is an American TV and film actress from Syracuse, New York known for her recurring role as Inspector Bryn Carson on Nash Bridges and primetime dramas ER and Law & Order. She also appeared in Mr. Saturday Night....
... Detective China, NYPD - Bruce Goldberg ... Taxi Cab Driver
- Penny MarshallPenny MarshallPenny Marshall is an American actress, producer and director.After playing several small roles for television, she was cast as Laverne DeFazio in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley...
... Angie, Nick's agent - Christina RicciChristina RicciChristina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
... Bonnie, Susan's daughter - George Kee CheungGeorge CheungGeorge Kee Cheung is a Chinese actor, stunt man, and singer with an extensive career in American television and film dating back to the mid-1970s, often playing Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mongolian parts...
... Drug Dealer - Lewis BlackLewis BlackLewis Niles Black is an American stand-up comedian, author, playwright, social critic and actor. He is known for his comedy style, which often includes simulating a mental breakdown, or an increasingly angry rant, ridiculing history, politics, religion, trends and cultural phenomena...
... Obnoxious Banker that John faces off with in a bar - Rand Foerster (co-founder of The West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theatre BarWest Bank Cafe Downstairs Theatre BarThe Laurie Beechman Theatre is an 80-seat dinner theatre in the basement of the West Bank Cafe at 407 West 42nd Street in the Manhattan Plaza apartment complex just west of Times Square....
with Lewis Black) ... Obnoxious Banker - Kathy NajimyKathy NajimyKathy Ann Najimy is an American actress, most notable as Olive Massery on the television series Veronica's Closet, Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act and the voice of Peggy Hill on the animated television series King of the Hill. Prior to her film work, she was best known for two Off Broadway shows...
... Nick's Girl Friday - Mos DefMos DefDante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
... Dead Romeos Gang Member (as Dante Smith) - Bill CobbsBill CobbsWilbert "Bill" Cobbs is an American film and television actor. He has starred in over 120 television programs and movies.-Life and career:...
... Raggedy Man who accosts Nick outside of the Dead Romeos' pad - Leif Riddell ... Head mugger
- Johnny SanchezJohnny SanchezJohnny Sanchez is an American actor, writer, and film producer who graduated from High School of Performing Arts in New York City.-Early years and education:...
... Mugger - Karen Lynn GorneyKaren Lynn GorneyKaren Lynn Gorney is an American actress, known for her roles on television and film.-Early life:Gorney was born in Beverly Hills, California. She is the daughter of 20th-century composer Jay Gorney, who wrote the music for what many consider the definitive song about America's Great Depression,...
... Woman in Subway - Holly Kuespert (wife of director D.J. Caruso) ... Nick's co-star in "Smoking Gunn"
- Michael BadaluccoMichael BadaluccoMichael Badalucco is an American actor most famous for his role as lawyer Jimmy Berluti on the ABC legal drama The Practice...
... Pizza Man - Fracaswell Hyman (creator of The Famous Jett JacksonThe Famous Jett JacksonThe Famous Jett Jackson is a joint Canadian and American Disney Channel Original Series coming-of-age television series for children ages 12–16 about a boy named Jett Jackson who plays a teenage secret-agent on a fictional TV show-within-a-show called Silverstone...
) ... Wino - Bryant GumbelBryant GumbelBryant Charles Gumbel is an American television journalist and sportscaster. He is best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's The Today Show. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel.-Early life:...
... Himself - Jan Speck (model and wife of the film's director, John Badham) ... Frank, TV reporter
- David Sosna ... Billy the Frog Dog Vendor