Bird on a Wire ( film ) - wikipedia Bird on a Wire ( film ) For the documentary, see Leonard Cohen : Bird on a Wire. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( May 2010 ) Bird on a Wire Theatrical release poster Directed by John Badham Produced by Rob Cohen Written by Louis Venosta David Seltzer Starring Mel Gibson Goldie Hawn David Carradine Bill Duke Music by Hans Zimmer Cinematography Robert Primes Edited by Frank Morriss Dallas Puett Production company Interscope Communications The Badham / Cohen Group Distributed by Universal Pictures Release date May 18, 1990 ( 1990 - 05 - 18 ) Running time 110 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $20 million Box office $138,697,012 Bird on a Wire is a 1990 American action comedy film starring Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn, directed by John Badham, and shot mainly in British Columbia, Canada. The title refers to the Leonard Cohen song `` Bird on the Wire ''. The alley motorcycle chase scene was filmed in Victoria 's Chinatown, in Fan Tan Alley. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Reception 3.1 Box office 4 References 5 External links Plot Rick Jarmin ( Mel Gibson ) helped convict a drug - dealing DEA agent named Eugene Sorenson ( David Carradine ) and was placed in the witness protection program. Fifteen years later his former fiancée Marianne Graves ( Goldie Hawn ) crosses paths with him at a gas station in Detroit, Michigan. Rick refuses to recognize Marianne, as the witness protection program does not allow contact with people from the witness ' previous life. If she recognizes him it may lead to Sorenson finding and killing him. Sorenson has been let out of the United States penitentiary in fictional Hudolin, Pennsylvania, after serving his sentence. With his partner Albert `` Diggs '' Diggins ( Bill Duke ), they are out to kill Rick in order to smooth the passage of their latest deal with drug dealers. Marianne has blown Rick 's cover and he makes a frantic call to his relocation officer for a new identity, only to discover that his old contact has retired and is later revealed to have Alzheimer 's. His new contact is Joe Weyburn ( Stephen Tobolowsky ), a corrupt FBI agent in league with Diggs and Sorenson. Just as Marianne prepares to confront Rick they are surprised by Sorenson and Diggs, who show up at the gas station with guns blazing. They shoot Rick 's kindly old boss at the gas station, pinning the murder on Rick and Marianne, and Rick is shot in the buttocks. A witness sees them and her rental car, a blue BMW, and they are forced to go on the run, which occupies most of the movie, during which they revisit some of Rick 's former life - in - hiding, including a beauty salon where he was a star employee, an old flame of a veterinarian who still wants to marry him, who owns an animal farm and operates on the wound in his behind, in her operating room. Rick and Marianne spend a night in a hotel room, where they later share their feelings and have passionate sex. The climax of the film takes place the next night in a zoo where Rick used to work and knows his way around. He releases the various large cats and other animals from their cages, and these and crocodiles and piranhas complicate the pitched battle with Sorenson, Diggs and Weyburn, who meet various ends. At the end Rick is suspended over a large cat in a pit and Marianne ca n't quite reach him. He offers her the extra incentive of marriage and children, which does the trick. To tease her afterwards, he pretends to back out of his promise, but the next scene shows them boating in the Caribbean, and their repartee, and wedding rings, suggest that they have tied the knot. Cast Mel Gibson as Richard `` Rick '' Jarmin Goldie Hawn as Marianne Graves David Carradine as Eugene Sorenson Bill Duke as Albert `` Diggs '' Diggins Stephen Tobolowsky as Joe Weyburn Joan Severance as Rachel Varney Jeff Corey as Lou Baird Reception This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( November 2016 ) Bird on a Wire gained a mixed to negative reception. The film holds a 32 % rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 22 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of `` B + '' on an A+ to F scale. Box office Bird on a Wire debuted at # 1 at the box office with $15.3 million and went on to gross over $138.6 million worldwide. References Jump up ^ Thompson - Nicola Film Commission Archived 2007 - 07 - 07 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Bird on a Wire ''. Variety. 1989 - 12 - 31. Retrieved 2010 - 11 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Bird on a Wire ''. Washington Post. 1990 - 05 - 18. Retrieved 2010 - 11 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Bird on a Wire ''. Entertainment Weekly. 1990 - 05 - 18. Retrieved 2010 - 11 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Bird on a Wire ''. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 2010 - 11 - 16. Jump up ^ `` CinemaScore ''. cinemascore.com. Jump up ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=birdonawire.htm External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Bird on a Wire Bird on a Wire on IMDb Bird on a Wire at AllMovie Bird on a Wire at the TCM Movie Database Bird on a Wire at Rotten Tomatoes Bird on a Wire at Box Office Mojo Films directed by John Badham Is n't It Shocking ? ( 1973 ) The Gun ( 1974 ) Reflections of Murder ( 1974 ) The Bingo Long Traveling All - Stars & Motor Kings ( 1976 ) Saturday Night Fever ( 1977 ) Dracula ( 1979 ) Whose Life Is It Anyway ? ( 1981 ) Blue Thunder ( 1983 ) WarGames ( 1983 ) American Flyers ( 1985 ) Short Circuit ( 1986 ) Stakeout ( 1987 ) Bird on a Wire ( 1990 ) The Hard Way ( 1991 ) Point of No Return ( 1993 ) Another Stakeout ( 1993 ) Drop Zone ( 1994 ) Nick of Time ( 1995 ) Incognito ( 1997 ) The Jack Bull ( 1999 ) The Last Debate ( 2000 ) Footsteps ( 2003 ) Evel Knievel ( 2004 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bird_on_a_Wire_(film)&oldid=821226642 '' Categories : 1990 films English - language films 1990s action films 1990s chase films 1990s criminal comedy films American action comedy films American chase films American comedy thriller films American criminal comedy films American films Films directed by John Badham Films scored by Hans Zimmer Films set in Detroit Films set in Michigan Films shot in Vancouver Interscope Communications films Universal Pictures films Works about witness protection Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Articles needing additional references from May 2010 All articles needing additional references Articles to be expanded from November 2016 All articles to be expanded Articles using small message boxes Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Deutsch Español Euskara فارسی Français Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Magyar Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Русский Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська 10 more Edit links This page was last edited on 19 January 2018, at 04 : 07. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: cast of the movie bird on a wire
Answer: Mel Gibson as Richard "Rick" Jarmin