Rating of
3/4
"Running Scared" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 02/26/12
When two hotshot Chicago detectives have a brush with their own mortality, they decide to buy a bar and retire to Key West after cracking one last case. Running Scared is the kind of film that at least on paper, looks like a pig. The plot is the usual mix of cliched characters and by the numbers plot devices (particularly the inevitable man-boy pleasing finale), and the cast hardly screams A-list. But what this film gets right is the sense of fun; it's tongue is firmly in its cheek and the great comic chemistry between Crystal and Hines is backed up by a constant stream of consistently funny jokes (my personal highlights include the police line-up and Hines' battle of the bird with a ten year old!) It's definitely a matter of taste, but for me Running Scared is far better than contemporary Beverly Hills Cop and ranks alongside the likes of Back To The Future, Ghostbusters and Die Hard as my cinematic comfort food, and will forever be one of my favourite guilty pleasures.
