Running Scared
Tags: violence, neo noir

Plot synopsis:
Ray Hughes (Hines) and Danny Costanzo (Crystal) are two detectives working Chicago's North Side, known for their wisecracking demeanors and unorthodox police methods, which get results in their various cases. One such case involves trying to bust up-and-coming drug dealer Julio Gonzales (Jimmy Smits). After arresting Snake (Joe Pantoliano), one of Julio’s associates, they convince him to wear a wire in order to get the necessary evidence to put Julio away. When they approach the meeting place (a cargo ship) they find that Gonzales has acquired a large store of Israeli Uzi submachine guns. Snake is setting the detectives up, however, prompting the detectives to rush in by acting as though Gonzales was preparing to kill him. Gonzales reveals his ambition to be the next "godfather" of Chicago, but chastises Snake for letting the detectives get close, and Snake is shot dead by a subordinate. The pair look as though they will be killed for sure, but two undercover detectives in Julio’s gang step in to make the arrest. In the ensuing gun battle, most of Julio’s gang escape, but Ray and Danny capture Gonzales.
Back at the station Ray and Danny expect to be praised, but instead their captain (Dan Hedaya) chastises them for their sloppy work (as revealed by Snake’s wire) and orders them to take a vacation. On vacation in Key West, Florida, the pair begin to question their career choice after the experience and decide to retire and open a bar.
When they return to Chicago and inform the captain of their intentions, they find out that Gonzales has been released and is free on bail. Incensed, they vow to capture Gonzales before retiring, but by being a little more careful in the process. To add insult to injury, Captain Logan assigns them the additional task of training their replacements before they go: detectives Anthony Montoya (Jon Gries) and Frank Sigliano (Steven Bauer), none other than the two undercover officers that saved them from being killed in the Gonzales bust. Logan wants the replacements to be "the best of the worst" and orders them never to let him catch them doing anything Ray and Danny teaches them.
During one of the attempts to capture Gonzales, Ray and Danny confiscate a large shipment of cocaine coming from Colombia. In order to get them back, Gonzales kidnaps Danny’s ex-wife Anna (Darlanne Fluegel), whom he still loves and has been trying to reconcile with, and says he will trade her for his drugs, otherwise he will kill her. Danny agrees, leading to the final confrontation inside the high-rise atrium of the James R. Thompson Center. During the ensuing firefight, Danny and Ray ironically rescue their would-be protégés in a way similar to their own rescuing, and Gonzales is killed. Anna and Danny reconcile and he and Ray decide not to retire after all.

Review: Very funny cop/buddy movie that owes a lot to the inspired teaming of Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal.
Smits is not a great villain but he carries the role well and the supporting cast are impressive with other future big names Dan Hedaya and Joe Pantoliano.Overall it's not a classic - it's a buddy cop movie.
Watch it, like the characters, enjoy the action and laugh at the comedy - a wonderful example of how the buddy cop genre can be good when everything is just right..
So perhaps it's time to buy a bar in Key West and retire.Back from vacation, Danny and Ray are back on the case, and their adventure includes an exciting car chase that involves the tracks of the El. Later things get REALLY dangerous.There was nothing great about this movie, though it was funny most of the time.
Gregory Hines (Ray Hughes) and Billy Crystal (Danny Costanzo) form a cop-buddy duo who are after a bad guy called Julio Gonzales (Jimmy Smits).Running Scared (1986) is directed by Peter Hyams.Crystal and the late great Hines make a great pair as those two cops.And Smits makes a great villain.Joe Pantoliano also does neat job as a baddie they call Snake.Dan Hedaya is quite excellent as Captain.Darlanne Fluegel does very fine job as Anna Costanzo.Larry Hankin appears as Ace, and he's very good.John LaMotta is seen as Evidence Officer.Running Scared doesn't do anything that memorable to make it a classic, but it does entertain enough.The ending works, and the chase on train tracks looks pretty cool.To all those who dig buddy cop movies of the 80's this is worth checking out..
yes the plot is implausible,and so politically incorrect that you can't believe.but the film does what it sets out to do-entertain.this is ground that has been covered before(Beverly Hills Cop as an example),but never in a way that is as much fun.the screenplay is o.k.,with the best dialogue reserved for Hines-Crystal banter.the other characters are basically filler.but generally well done(Joe Pantoliano as Snake is great).there are a few dead spots in the film,but these are usually rescued by Hines and/or Crystal,who seemed to be having a lot of fun.there is a fantastic chase scene late in the movie that alone makes it worth watching.altogether this '80's buddy movie still holds up.mostly because of the insanity of the two leads..
Add to the mix a very early Jimmy Smits appearance (as a criminal, ironic in light of his future role on NYPD Blue) and a good performance by Joe Pantaliano and you've got yourself an entertaining evening for adults of all types.Given that it doesn't try to be something that it's not (which is a great buddy movie), I give it 10 out of 10.
This is great movie for fans of (the late great) Gregory Hines or Billy Crystal.I not too big on Crystal,although Analyze this/that were funny.I like this performance more.He played a serious role,especiallywhen someone kidnapped somebody he loved.He and Hines cracked jokes and worked great together.It took me nearly 13 years to finally watch it,uncut,commercial free, unlike they show on TBS or TNT or any other.I have this thing about watching Movies on tv,(No Nudity,no cursing,edited scenes and commercials)You're not seeing the movie as it was intended.So even though i would glance at it for a second,I"d turn from it.I rented it at blockbuster in 99'bought Vhs in 2000.Dvd in 2002.Even though,I knew of it and saw it at various video stores.I finally got around to it.
Every time i heard it on the radio I thought about the movie.It had a music video go with it, that had Hines and Crystal singing,dancing,and acting funny.
It had a bunch of funny scenes -too many to name.Having to give their pants up for Julio Gonzalez(Jimmy Smits)and the jokes that followed.Or when they're hanging upside down in a trash compactor arguing about $10 dollars-.I love the scene where Hines and Crystal get held up,but the criminals bolted in their car ,and i looked as if they got away,but the truck forced them drive back into Hines and Crystal.The smile those two give each other are priceless.When a kid at a house of a lady they're questioning keeps giving Hines the bird.The lady shuts her door.Hines knocks,the kid answers and Hines gives him the bird Yelling "Yessssssss".
Their vacation time in Florida had good scenery-motorcycles,women,fishing boat,roller skates, and the idea to retire from the cop business.Oh,yes and "Sweet Freedom"playing through it.The Chase from the airport onto train tracks was awesome.The shootout in the building, in the last scene in the movie was good.These scenes are few of many, that stand out to me.This movie had action,witty dialogue,smart,intelligent-just plain great and funny.Now Hines and Crystal took different film routes after this.
Crystal -comedies,So his one and only action movie he did a great job,.It was a physical role for him too.Running,jumping, shooting.He had a seriousness about him too.Hines went onto-action,and dramas .So in that time and space ,they were wonderful .
It's kinda a less glitzy Beverly Hills Cop.Billy Crystal is good, as well as Gregory Hines.
Joining them are Jimmy Smits, Steven Bauer, Dan Hedeya, and Joe Pantoliano.Danny and Ray (Crystal and Hines) are two Chicago cops who are sent on a vacation when they are nearly killed during a case.The two go to Florida and decide to quit the force and open a bar.
They find that, with an eye toward retirement, it's not as easy as they thought.Comedians, for some reason, don't have a long shelf life in terms of film stardom - witness Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Robin Williams - after a time, even if they stay in movies, their roles become less.Billy Crystal is another example.
And threads that don't seem to fit and some over-the-top acting and cops clearly doing things that they would NEVER have gotten away with, even in 1986.But if you are looking at all of that than you also clearly don't understand that you're watching a comedy and a pretty entertaining one at that.Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal are absolutely amazing together, to the point that the viewer is almost depressed they weren't paired up more often.
There is something hysterical going on between the two of them that seems to seep from somewhere off camera.It makes it a lot of fun to watch, because you get the sense that the pair were having a great time off screen and you, the viewer, is coming into a party that already hit full steam.It's like watching an Emilio Estevez movie, especially when he was younger and everything he did felt like you were watching a man that loved his work.It's always refreshing watching people that look like they are having fun and in a comedy like this it translates well and makes for a very entertaining show..
It's more comedy than action , but it's definitely an enjoyable and fun movie coming from not that bad director as other want you to believe - Peter Hyams.
The movie is fast and funny.Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines have good chemistry together.
The soundtrack is nice with songs by Patti LaBelle " I know what I want" and Fee Waybill "Running scared" .Good fun from the era of best action comedies.
I only saw it recently as I really did not want to see a movie with Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines as a couple of tough cops.
The movie is about a couple (Crystal and Hines) of Chicago cops who suddenly find themselves on the trail of a big time drug dealer(Jimmy Smits).
Anyways the boys get the idea of retiring and running a bar, but first they have to finish the case.Getting back to Chicago means it's time to get back to the case, which means there are going to be shootouts and car chases, typical of the buddy films of that era.
As others have said ,it's a very dated movie but entertaining just the same.I grew up in the 80's so the tacky clothes bring back some fun memories.I think I may have owned a few of those outfits and shorts they were wearing .Great song by Michael McDonald during the vacation montage 'sweet freedom' .Lots of character actors that have since gone on to bigger things are in this.Uncle Rico(John Gries)from Napolean Dynamite who plays a cop on the same force as billy & gregory.Joe Pantoliano who has done a lot of movies over the years including playing 'Ralphie' on the Sopranos ,As well as Jimmy Smits,Dan Hedaya,Steve Bauer,etc .Gregory Hines R.I.P.
Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines play Chicago detectives trying to shut down the man who strives to be the first Hispanic godfather (Jimmy Smits), by trying to nab him before he kills them.
This comes under the category of "Why they didn't do the sequel to this, instead of all that other [stuff]?" Crystal and Hines are given a raft of characters to work with--the cruel gangster, the scared stoolie, the estranged wife, the drug-running priest and nun (okay, that last one isn't entirely accurate)--all extremely well cast.
For a time between the humorous Beverly Hills Cop to the more serious Lethal Weapon, Running Scared is a great action comedy with a very unlikely paring of Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal.
Even though I was only 10 or 11, i knew then that this was a classic.Every cop movie since this tries to copy this format that worked so well for Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines.
Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal have chemistry as hard boiled Chicago cops.
They ways he tries to kill them are pretty original.The real fun in this movie comes from the chemistry between Crystal and Hines.
Disciplined after blowing the cover on an undercover operation, two Chicago cops consider retiring and opening a bar until an opportunity arises to capture the drug lord who they had been after for years in this action comedy starring Bill Crystal and Gregory Hines.
The pacing of the movie is all over the place with a montage of the pair vacationing coming off as a particular distraction from the crime thriller central subplot, but the film survives on account of the great chemistry between Crystal and Hines.
Danny Costanzo (Billy Crystal) and Ray Hughes (Gregory Hines) are streetwise Chicago cops.
Billy Crystal & Gregory Hines make a very good duo, and the story line, while a bit predictable, provides for some very good action.
A shootout with drug dealers is simply an opportunity for frivolity and mirth, and a heavily armed criminal hell bent on ending your existence is merely a chance to crack wise and enjoy each others company.Even a family funeral is a non-stop chucklefest Danny (Billy Crystal) and Ray (Gregory Hines) are the opposite of the usual 'mismatched' partners (think Mel and Danny, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, Arnie and anybody), they are so very 'matched' that they don't chat as much as riff.
Ray Hughes The much missed Gregory Hines and Danny Costanzo Billy Crystal are a pair of wisecracking Chicago cops.
In an effort to bring down Drug Baron Gonzales, (Jimmy Smits) the pair unintentionally blow the lid off an undercover operation, Their superior Officer Dan Hedeya orders the pair to take a vacation where whilst upon vacation in Florida they sample the good life and plan to develop a further taste for it, but the pair decide to try and take down Gonzales, 'Running Scared' is a terrificly paired Comedy thriller from Peter Hyams, the director of other such great films as 'Capricorn One' 'Outland' who most film buff's neglect to mention these days!.
And speaking of icing, any Chicagoan will laugh frequently during this film at the pitiful imitation snow, which looks more like frosting than precipitation (especially when you see it laying on top of very green tree leaves).Crystal was hot at the time after his year on SNL, and he manages to work in some of his character shtick here without sidetracking the plot.
When you look at the actors involved -- Hines, Crystal, Pantoliano, Hedaya, Smits -- this film would have to have struggled to be bad, and it doesn't.
When you look at the actors involved -- Hines, Crystal, Pantoliano, Hedaya, Smits -- this film would have to have struggled to be bad, and it doesn't.
Jackson-Eugene Levy clunker The Man. This 80s-drenched buddy action-comedy pairs short 'n stubbly Billy Crystal and the late Ethiopian Shim-Shammer Gregory Hines together as some witty Chi-town cops who don't play by the rules.
(Another factor in that decision is the fact that Danny has come into a $40 K inheritance.) But when they get back from the vacation, and hear that Gonzales is still on the streets, they become more determined than ever to take care of their nemesis.Competently staged by director Peter Hyams (who serves as his own cinematographer), those aforementioned entertaining scenes include early ones with Danny and Ray making life miserable for the aptly named lowlife "Snake" (Joe Pantoliano), their intense pursuit of Gonzales that eventually leads to the Chicago El tracks (this is far and away the highlight of the movie), a sequence with a garbage truck, and the finale in Chicago's State Building.
This movie was about two cops who have to catch a drug dealer when they do the boss tells them to go on vaction so they do they go to Florida and love it there they by a bar and decide to quit being a cop after going back to the police station to tell the boss he says the guy they arrested bailed out so they have 30 days until they can quit so they are gonna try and get this guy in 30 days there are some good lines in it when they get mugged and the guy goes " give me ya wallet" and Billy Crystal goes "we dont want to give you our whole wallets just the money" the street guy goes no the whole wallet know" than the other cop goes " we dont want to give you our ids our snapshots our bages" funny if u like Billy Crystals and 1980's comedys you will like this.
Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines are a duo of Chicago cops on the trail of high-rolling drug dealer Jimmy Smits.
But I feel that the chemistry between Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal is what made this movie so good.
May I start off that Gregory and Billy really lacked chemistry that a buddy cop movie should have?
Badly dated 80's buddy cop film (the soundtrack is pretty awful, although some of the clothes the guys wear in Key West take the biscuit), which I always enjoy thanks to the great chemistry between Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal.
Once there, they find out that they still haven't lost the murderers, so they basically (a) run and are (b) scared, hence the title.Here's the real plot: Two streetwise cops (Crystal and Hines) are hot on the trail of a drug lord (Steven Bauer).
I like to sit down at two in the morning on a Friday or Saturday night, curl up and watch a really cheesy, bad movie from the 80s."Running Scared" fits the bill, but the humor just isn't there.I give this film a recommendation based solely upon the fact--as silly as it may seem--that Billy Crystal does a Dan Hedaya impersonation.
Fun pairing of Crystal and Hines make this buddy buddy cop film a good video rental.
Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines make for unlikely pairing, but it totally works here (and the movie hinges on their camaraderie, at that).
"Man Sized Love," "Sweet Freedom," and "I Know What I Want" were among the hits that "Running Scared" yielded.Everything starts with our plainclothes heroes, Danny Costanzo (Billy Crystal of "Analyze This") and Ray Hughes (Gregory Hines of "Waiting to Exhale"), on stake-out when they spot notorious cocaine dealer Julio Gonzales (Jimmy Smits of "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones") and his flunky Snake (Joe Pantoliano of "U.S. Marshals") in a low-rent neighborhood getting out of a Mercedes.
The plot is simple: two veteran Chicago cops, Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines, are set to retire but before doing so wish to take down drug dealer, Jimmy Smits (and he's a force to be reckoned with, too).
Gregory Hines, Billy Crystal, Darlanne Fluegel, Dan Hedaya, Joe Pantoliano and Jimmy Smits star in this 1986 action-comedy.
This takes place in Chicago, Illinois during Christmas time where we meet wise-cracking cops, Ray Hughes (Hines) and Danny Costanzo (Crystal).
Although it's not the greatest buddy-cop film ever made, but it still ranks high in entertainment, witty dialog and to top it all off, the wonderful chemistry between the two leads (Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines).
This is a strange scene, as it just shows them as a pair of awful awful people, and the worst thing about it is the fact that Crystal is all oiled up and flexing his muscles.And then it's back to basics, Jimmy Smits is back on the street, and the guys must get him before the end of the film.We are then treated to a coupe of car chases, with a few one liners and an impressive final set piece.It's a shame i've seen this film quite a while after it was made, because I have seen so many buddy cop movies since and they have been a lot more slickly made and are a little more entertaining.That said, it's choc full of eighties cheese and Crystal and Hines are great together..
I like Billy Cristal and I discovered Gregory Hines in this movie, he is a great actor.
But really, this movie predated all of the aforementioned films except for the first two, and it's still not receiving the kind of credit it deserves.This 1986 action comedy features Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines as Danny Costanzo and Ray Hughes, two Chicago cops who are looking to retire.