Peter Hyams is a director who always delivers exhilarating action sequences but struggles to fill the quiet moments in his films with anything of substance. Yet again he has fashioned a film which is intermittently terrific - especially when the emphasis is on action - but during moments when plot and character development are thrust to the fore, things become decidedly mediocre. Still, at least Billy Crystal is on hand to provide some memorable verbal wit.
Two Chicago cops, Crystal and Gregory Hines, are busily trying to put various scumbags behind bars for drug crimes. Their main target is Julio Gonzalez (Jimmy Smits), a big-time drug lord who constantly eludes their grasp. For a while, the guys leave wintry Chicago and sample the good life in Key West, Florida, but ultimately they just can't let unfinished business lie. Against their better judgement, they return to Chicago to finish the one job they've still got to complete.... the capture of Gonzalez.
Hyams delivers one simply awesome chase in which the heroes pursue their quarry by car, but somehow end up driving on the city's elevated-railway tracks. He also manages to squeeze in a genuinely funny scene in which Crystal makes a wacky anonymous phone-call, complete with goofy voice. However, Hyams is let down - yet again - by the periodic lulls in his story. The whole Key West sequence is boring, even though it bears relevance to the plot. And on too many occasions, Crystal's marital troubles interfere with the story (again, they are certainly relevant, but are played in a very dull way). It's worth watching Running Scared once, but during subsequent viewings it might be advisable to fast-forward through the dreary scenes to get to the good bits.
Two Chicago cops, Crystal and Gregory Hines, are busily trying to put various scumbags behind bars for drug crimes. Their main target is Julio Gonzalez (Jimmy Smits), a big-time drug lord who constantly eludes their grasp. For a while, the guys leave wintry Chicago and sample the good life in Key West, Florida, but ultimately they just can't let unfinished business lie. Against their better judgement, they return to Chicago to finish the one job they've still got to complete.... the capture of Gonzalez.
Hyams delivers one simply awesome chase in which the heroes pursue their quarry by car, but somehow end up driving on the city's elevated-railway tracks. He also manages to squeeze in a genuinely funny scene in which Crystal makes a wacky anonymous phone-call, complete with goofy voice. However, Hyams is let down - yet again - by the periodic lulls in his story. The whole Key West sequence is boring, even though it bears relevance to the plot. And on too many occasions, Crystal's marital troubles interfere with the story (again, they are certainly relevant, but are played in a very dull way). It's worth watching Running Scared once, but during subsequent viewings it might be advisable to fast-forward through the dreary scenes to get to the good bits.