Just perfect...

best movie i've ever seen.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Lt. John Moss (James Woods) is an aggressive hard-nosed NYPD detective. His partner is Benny Pooley (Luis Guzmán) and his suffering girlfriend is Susan (Annabella Sciorra). He's after the crazy gunman Party Crasher (Stephen Lang). Nick Lang (Michael J. Fox) is a famous actor known for being action hero Joe Gunn. He is tired of doing the same thing again and wants to ride along with Moss. Captain Brix (Delroy Lindo) takes him off the case despite Moss's objections. Moss continues to investigate anyways even with the hyper pushy Lang tagging along.This is a buddy comedy where for the most part, the buddies don't get along. Woods is dialed up to 11 with his fast talking wild hard cop type. Fox is dialed up to 11 with his fast talking whiny Hollywood actor type. It may be better if either one could play the straight man in this duo. I like Woods' character more than Fox's. They're good for small doses but for the full movie, they wear out their welcome. The crazy killer, the gangs, the ghetto and the rest are all very fake. It's a fine movie to see these two actors act up a storm to get a laugh. I find that they annoyed me a little more than amused me.

The flimsy, barely-there plot of The Hard Way is about angry cop John Moss wanting to catch serial killer the Party Crasher but being unable to as he has been stuck with undercover actor Nick Lang, who is researching for a role. John and Nick irritate each other, John's fledgling relationship with Susan isn't working out and the Party Crasher, occasionally murdering people, hates John. That's the plot. There's no character development or detective work, two elements essential in buddy cop movies, and yet the film is heaving with clichés, which would work if handled in a tongue in cheek manner, after all the film does send up some cop drama clichés, but most are meant to be taken seriously.James Wood's performance as John Moss, angry, fast-talking and foul mouthed, does not come across as a real person, or a real detective as he doesn't do any police/detective work, just beats people up or threatens them, so he quickly becomes an irritating bore to watch. His mostly-off-screen relationship with new girlfriend Susan is also hard to believe. Neither seems to have any interest in the other's personality, and Susan gabbles and laughs nervously but doesn't appear to have anything else to her. Towards the end of the film she dumps John as it is too dangerous to date a cop, a fact she would surely have thought about sooner, she is then instantly proved correct when she is kidnapped by the villain, so why are John and Susan a couple at the end of the film? Set in a neon-filled, noisy, dirty, dark, overpopulated New York, The Hard Way is not enjoyable visually. Every scene in a public place is packed wall to wall with extras, with irritating cuts to street dancers in the middle of action sequences, and there are far too many supporting characters who at most get three scenes to have a line in, and all this gritty, dark, crowdedness makes a lot of the scenes hard to follow. The only visually interesting set is that of the giant Nick Lang billboard, Michael J Fox's enormous head, smoking a cigarette, which becomes involved in both the starting action sequence and the ending. This is advertising the film within the film, Smoking Gunn II, which amusingly spoofs action/adventure films. It is worrying that Smoking Gunn II looks a lot more enjoyable than The Hard Way. However, even this is overused and repetitive, as two action scenes at the end of the film, one following the other, parody Smoking Gunn II, one in a cinema and one on the billboard.It is difficult to understand, and unexplained, why the police have so much trouble catching the Party Crasher when they constantly witness him committing crimes, so it becomes tedious how many times he is caught/wounded/trapped but always magically escapes. This is also the worst performance of the film. What is Stephen Lang going for as the Party Crasher? He comes across as mentally disabled, his 'only kill bad people' crusade is never gone into and he is so underdeveloped that it makes no sense he is given scenes on his own.The Hard Way is a dull, clichéd cop thriller minus the thrills, held together entirely by Fox's amusing and energetic performance as actor Nick Lang. We have to wonder how similar Fox's own life at this time was to Lang's spoilt rich lifestyle.

There are buddy cop movies and there are cop buddy movies, then there is John Badham's 1991 The Hard Way. Angst ridden, angry and street wise New York City police Detective Lt. John Moss (James Woods) has forced upon him the ivory towered, naïve and utterly irritating Hollywood star Nick Lang (Michael J. Fox) to further Lang's research into the life of "how to live the cop's life" for his latest movie.With the added work from writers' Lem Dobbs (Dark City, 1998), Michael Kozoll (First Blood, 1982) and Daniel Pyne (Fracture, 2007) a writing chemistry that works well together, particularly in the hands of John Badham (WarGames, 1983 and Short Circuit, 1986). Bringing these two giants, Woods and Fox, to the silver screen together is by no means an easy task if they are to gel, and this is exactly what has been done. With a chemistry on screen that is a highly intoxicating, humorous, witty and action filled with highly explosive personalities, and what a script too; quick, sharp and fun. This is a fun movie with a capitol "F", seeing Woods and Fox play off each other is simply stunning, it really is a pity that there were no outtakes during the end credits here as we can very plainly see these fine actors enjoying the pleasure of their work.Parodying the parody, The Hard Way is an entertaining spoof movie of street cop reality and movie star elite that when mixed can deliver a hard and soft movie of serious principles set against the whims of entertainment. Along side James Woods and Michael J. Fox we see Luis Guzmán, Karen Lynn Gorney's cameo role, coming back after a fourteen-year hiatus since her last role as Stephanie in John Badham's epic Saturday Night Fever (1977) and a young and delightful Christina Ricci, playing only her second role in her career. Then saving the best till last, we have Stephen Lang as the chilling and narcissistic serial killer The Party Crasher; creepy, very creepy.It is the work of the two leading men that are indelible to this piece, James Woods playing the hyper anxious stress ball trying to capture New York's latest killer and in the mean time trying his best to keep his relationship with New York beauty Annabella Sciorra. However, it is the role of undercover actor playing undercover cop "Ray Casanov", Michael J. Fox here has more than excelled himself and has proved that he is more than capable to being able to use comedy and wit, very refreshing stuff indeed. With the backup of James Woods The Hard Way shows that an oddball pairing makes a surprisingly satisfying arrest.

Very entertaining movie, M.J. Fox is great, very good actor, he makes the movie very funny and sympathetic. Also a good scenario for a comedy movie but there are also lots of action scenes and some good quotes that makes you laugh. There is only one scene that annoying is the one M.J. Fox act as Wood's girlfriend and wants from him to say something. Wood's acting was terrible in here and time passed very slow for me but in the other parts of the movie he was good enough. Final of the movie was also very good and thrilling. I gave seven out of ten.