This review is for the 1986 Billy Crystal/Gregory Hines movie Running Scared, not the 2006 Chazz Palminteri/Paul Walker Running Scared.When this movie came out in 1986, Billy Crystal was coming off a successful year on Saturday Night Live and Gregory Hines was coming off a dance movie with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Neither had done an action movie before and the basic idea of the two of them as badass cops is lubricious on the surface. But Crystal and Hines make it work by throwing in enough laughs and fun to make it worthwhile. So, let’s take a look and see what’s it happened.
Ray Hughes (Hines) and Danny Constanzo (Crystal) aren’t exactly by the book cops. They drive around in an unmarked police car (which a jokester later writes onto the side of the car) and take down low level drug dealers in hopes of taking down the big boss Julio Gonzales (Jimmy Smits in his first movie role right before he hit it big on LA Law). They are known for being fearless risk takers and their reputation is built upon that. Their boss insists that the two of them take a vacation, so they head down to Florida where they have a great time. They have such a great time that they buy a bar down there and head back to Chicago to spend their last 30 days as safely as possible before retiring in the sun and sand.

Their new found love of safety causes them to make changes in their normal mode of work, including a brand-new bulletproof undercover police car cleverly disguised as a Yellow Cab,as they try to run out the streak. But when Julio kidnaps Danny’s ex-wife (who he still loves), they know that they’re going to have to go back to balls-to-the-wall recklessness to get her back and take down Julio.

Now, granted, this doesn’t sound like much. But this isn’t a movie you watch for the plot. This is a movie you watch for the chemistry between Hines and Crystal. They are spectacular together and more than make up for the sillyness of the plot with their banter and fun. You get Crystal doing his voices and the back and forth with Hines and Crystal trading lines, insulting each other and generally having a great time. This is by no means a great movie. But if you’re looking for some shoot-em-up entertainment that’s a lot of fun, you can’t do much better than Running Scared. Recommended.