Midnight Run

Midnight Run is a 1988 American action/comedy motion picture starring Robert De Niro as a bounty hunter.

Storyline

Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas (Grodin) is an accountant who embezzled $5 million from Vegas gangster Jimmy Serrano (Farina) and skipped bail. He is hiding in New York when his Los Angeles bail bondsman, Eddie Moscone (Pantoliano) hires Jack Walsh (De Niro), a former policeman living rough, to bring the accountant back to L.A. "It'll be a piece of cake, get in, get out," he promises, "it's a midnight run." To get the $100,000 bounty, Walsh needs to get Mardukas back to L.A. before Moscone forfeits the bail money he put up.

Related Topics:
Grodin - Vegas - Farina - Pantoliano - De Niro

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The FBI, led by the eternally put-upon Special Agent Alonzo Moseley (Kotto), want Mardukas under arrest to build their case against Serrano. Serrano, meanwhile, knows that Mardukas has access to financial information that could lead to his conviction, and has no intention of allowing him to live long enough to turn government evidence.

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After tracing and grabbing Mardukas in Manhattan, Walsh is unable to take Mardukas to L.A. by plane due to the latter's very pronounced fear of flying, which gets them thrown off their transcontinental flight, and sets up the rest of the plot. The pair embark on a wild cross-country chase, relying on various unreliable modes of transportation, all the while dodging the FBI, Serrano's goons, and rival bounty hunter Marvin Dorfler, hired by Moscone as insurance. Walsh and Mardukas bicker constantly, a by-product of the combination of Walsh's rough-hewn personality and Mardukas' habit of nagging.

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Much of the movie involves Mardukas' sincere effort to uncover the truth about his captor, a man he suspects is actually a decent guy, beneath the violent behavior and ten pack a day cigarette habit. In fact, Walsh was a former Chicago detective who refused to go on the take, and got drummed out of the force and driven out of Chicago. His wife ended up remarrying the lieutenant who fired him, and he hasn't seen his little girl since she was an infant. It turns out the gangster responsible for "the payroll" was Jimmy Serrano.

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Mardukas' character is a bit of a cipher, though he does exhibit a real knack for pushing Walsh's buttons. Walsh, on the other hand, turns out to be the moral center of the film, a true anti-hero. Meanwhile, the narrative propels Walsh and Mardukas toward their inevitable showdown with Serrano.

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