In what has to be one of the most under-appreciated "Buddy-Formula" movies of all time, Robert Deniro & Charles Grodin strut their stuff on screen for one of the greatest chase films ever made.<br /><br />Yes, for those of you who did not know that Charles Grodin actually DID have a successful movie career (i.e. "The Heartbreak Kid", "Heaven Can Wait", "The Lonely Guy", et al.) before getting into the talk show circuit, you'll be pleasantly surprised to catch his performance in this late 80's jewel of a movie.<br /><br />It stars Robert Deniro as Jack Walsh, a bounty-hunter who sets himself apart because he thinks that he has something that the people in his business usually don't have: "principles". The funny part is that those same "principles" are exactly what links him to the Charles Grodin character, Jonathan Mardukas, also known as The Duke, who has stolen 15 million dollars from the mob, and claims to have done it out of "principles", in order to give the money away to the poor.<br /><br />Whoever thought of the idea of bringing these two totally different actors together is a genius, as their chemistry is literally palpable on the screen, what with Deniro's intensity and Grodin's non-chalant ways, the blend is outstanding.<br /><br />The movie is basically a formulaic chase one, since Walsh and Mardukas are being followed by the FBI, led by Agent Alonzo Mosley, in a great performance by Yaphet Kotto, the mob, led by Jimmy Serrano, in a scary/funny turn by Dennis Farina, and another bounty-hunter named Marvin Dorfler, played by the much under-appreciated John Ashton. There are planes, trains, and automobiles in the movie, but it never gets tired, as it all comes to a magnificent conclusion.<br /><br />We're not used to seeing Deniro play a character like Jack Walsh in a comedy or an action/comedy, as his comedic turns have been more of the intellectual variety (i.e. "The King of Comedy", "Meet the Parents", etc.) or have been ones where he is fully disguised or almost unrecognizable (i.e. "Brazil", "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle"). But what he does here is brave and courageous, and it pays off big time, as he ALLOWS the character of Walsh to GET THE LAUGHS based solely on WHO THE CHARACTER IS, because there is no change in the way he utters out his threats in this movie, from the way he did it in movies where he was far more scarier (i.e. "Goodfellas", "The Godfather Part II", et al.).<br /><br />"Midnight Run" is a highly entertaining action/comedy movie with a heart, and if you have half the fun, watching it, as the actors obviously had while doing it, then you will have already enjoyed yourself a whole lot more than in any other movie that is "similar" to this one. Recommended as a great entry in the Robert Deniro filmography.