Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to the Pugsley crew reviews.
This week we're discussing a film called Midnight Run, which was picked by the guest, which is Jeff Yard. How are you doing, Jeff?
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Hello. I'm good, thank you.
[00:00:20] Speaker A: So before we talk about this film, right, why did you pick this film?
[00:00:27] Speaker B: Because I thought it's a bit more basic than the last film that pitched, which was cloud Atlas at the time. I also thought it was a lot shorter, but it's only slightly shorter.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: Good hour. Shorter.
[00:00:45] Speaker B: A good hour.
And, yeah, I remember liking it when I first saw it a few years ago.
Be worthy watching first movie that came to my head when you asked me.
[00:01:05] Speaker A: Surprising that it come to your head, considering, like, I don't know, it's like a 1988 film. So it would have been something you would have been probably too young to have seen when it came out, stuff like that.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: Well, I'll say a couple of years back, it might have been ten years or so back, but I decided to because I've not seen too many films or movies and stuff. It's there that watching tv or go to the cinema, I went to educate myself on quite a few classic films that I hadn't seen. So psycho, Godfather, Godfather two, and then I watched Heat, which also had Robert De Niro in it. And I was like, oh, you know what? I like him as an actor.
So I searched a few other films that he'd been in. I saw midnight Run and, yeah, that's how I found the film originally.
[00:02:14] Speaker A: Yeah, that's fair.
So this film, right, for those who are unaware, basically some guy he's doing accounts for, like, the mob, and he bezels the money or something, steals it, basically, and donates it to charity. And he needs to be brought back to a city in America, Los Angeles. Los Angeles. I thought it was, but I didn't want to say just in case I was wrong.
So he wants to bring him back. So the person who paid his bail bonds or something that works gets his money back.
I think that's it. And shenanigans ensue throughout the entire film, this one bit of mess leading on to another bit of mess and so on.
Basically, Robert De Niro is like a Bounty hunter.
Turns out he was a cop, but then he left being a cop in Chicago.
There's then bounty hunter in.
So what are your thoughts on the film, then? Because obviously it starts off with him, like, chasing down some random guy who has nothing really to do with the film, but it kind of sets up Robert De Niro as well as the other guy whose name I forget, who was in Beverly Hills cop.
[00:03:55] Speaker B: Charles Goden.
[00:03:57] Speaker A: Yeah, that is name the one who was in Beverly Hills cop.
[00:04:03] Speaker B: I don't know whether he's in Beverly Hills cop, but I've got a Wikipedia page.
[00:04:10] Speaker A: All right, it's the guy who's know the other bounty hunter.
[00:04:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: Sets up the dynamic straight.
[00:04:23] Speaker B: John David Ashton, I believe.
[00:04:25] Speaker A: Yeah, fair enough. I'm not familiar with many actors names because I'm fucking. I got the memory of a setup, like, showing the kind of dynamic between those. Like one of them is meant to be a better bout hunter than the other one, but they both kind of shitty.
It starts off like Robert Nero almost gets shot with a shotgun.
Fortunately, he ducks. Otherwise it would be a very short film.
And yeah, he chases the guy out of a building. The other boy, hunter, grabs him. And then Robert De Niro punches the other hawaiian hunter and knocks him out and then runs off with the bounty.
And then that's kind of when it all starts, then proper, like, he gets his money from the other guy. The guy who wants his money from.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: The bail.
[00:05:32] Speaker A: The bail money. So he tells him about this job and he's like, yeah, I want 100,000 for doing it. And he's like, but it's a midnight run. You could do it easy. I don't know what a midnight run is. I have no idea what a midnight run is. I couldn't say. But it's from there on. Then it starts off, he gets him really easily. And then the entire film then is about bringing him back from one state to another, I believe.
[00:06:03] Speaker B: Right?
Yeah. Just to pick up on midnight run. It's a phrase that means an easy job.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: Yeah, right. Clearly it wasn't an easy run because the FBI are trying to get this guy, the mob are trying to get this guy, the other bounty hunters trying to get this guy.
Yes. It's a cluster fuck from start to finish.
Anything you like about the film, particularly then, because obviously the film is a kind of typical, kind of action, kind of comedy film from the 80s, really.
Now, two.
[00:06:48] Speaker B: Garment, as I say, like.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: Two people who don't get on by the end. They garen on and kind of a bit cheesy, but not cheesy in that sense.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
In some sort of way, it does remind me a bit of the first Toy story with Woody and Buzz's relationship. At first, it's like a road buddy movie, I guess, because, as I say, I'm not massively into films, so probably just wouldn't be too invested in it if it's like pure action, but because it's got the comedy aspects and it's not like an in your face comedy, it's quite subtle. It's sort of how Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin interact with each other. And the Duke is sort of like an annoying sibling. And Robert De Niro is. He called Jack. He's just, like, quite straight. Just like, shut the fuck up and get to sort of almost generic as it is. I think it hits the emotional beats quite well. Like with the father daughter, the Jack and the Duke's relationship starts to improve on the train when they have a bit of a joke about it and they're like, you know what? In a different life, I'd still probably hate you.
A bit of a lasso and then reending as well. It's a good ending. Well, I say good ending as in it's a happy ending, but maybe a bit cheesy. But I think it's well deserved, well earned at the.
[00:08:57] Speaker A: Yeah, I rather enjoyed, like. I think it's really well played throughout. Like, Robert Nero playing this constant straight kind of guy, for the most part, is rather fucking great. I think it's one of the things I know it's daft. He's, like, saying stuff to me. He's like, and I've got two words for you. Shut the fuck up.
[00:09:21] Speaker B: If you were going to ask me my favorite line, that would probably be it.
[00:09:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: Or maybe when we were going into the airport and he's yeah, suffer from agrophobia and claustrophobia. And he's like, if you don't show up, you're going to suffer from fistophobia.
[00:09:39] Speaker A: This is good, though, because obviously the film, I think if they got on the plane, obviously it would be played out differently. The FBI would have been. The mob would have been at the end. But it all cocks up from the start then, because he's like, I can't fly. It's going to crash. And then he's like, oh, you can't take him on you. And it all obviously all plays out differently. Then they have to travel by car, by train, by another train, by several different cards.
[00:10:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
Even by river rapids at one point.
I wouldn't say comedy of errors, because it's not really erroneous. I think, obviously, deliberately is like these things go down and get themselves booted off a plane.
As you say, they've been over in about 30 minutes. If they just got on the plane and got back to LA. But instead it goes on for a bit longer.
[00:10:48] Speaker A: Yeah, about 2 hours longer.
Hour and a half.
Obviously, they're traveling across however far in America, I don't know, but.
[00:11:06] Speaker B: It'S funny.
[00:11:07] Speaker A: There were the interactions between them, like on the train, when they first get on the first train, it's like he locks them in a bathroom and he's like, that's your room, this is my room.
And he just sat in the toilet for ages, and he finally lays him out into the room and then he's like, he must have decided he wanted to go to sleep because he's back in the bathroom or he just got fed of him talking. Because he talks a lot. I think he talks just to annoy him, to be honest.
[00:11:38] Speaker B: Yeah, it does seem like he definitely seems to have a good grip of how to get under your skin, as I say. It's like with an annoying younger brother, like when we're driving, he's just singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall.
[00:11:59] Speaker A: Yeah, it's funny how many times have to switch things up. They have to try and get money in various different ways. They steal, I don't know, many cars.
He's like, yeah, I don't like people who break the law kind of thing.
He praying about fucking 9 million just getting from one airport, from one place to another.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: Yeah, in a way. Because the bail bond Guy, eddie, he sort of hires the other bounty hunter to go after him, and then that ends up messing up the job even more.
[00:12:43] Speaker A: Yeah, I did like, I want 100,000. And he's like, oh, I'll pay you the same as I'm paying jack. $25,000. I was like, you, quarter of the amount.
Brilliant.
[00:13:04] Speaker B: One other thing I do like, and it's quite a small touch, but it's like occasionally the characters would, in particular, robert De Niro would, like, mispronounce a word and just keep it in.
Trying to think of the example that came when we were talking about the churitzo meal and stuff. And there was another example where he mispronounced a word. I think when we're doing the.
Getting the $20 and he's like, doing the litmus configuration or whatever.
Because I think that that's sort of like people in real life, that they're not always speaking eloquently without messing up. So it's just a few little touches there that really see too often in media.
[00:14:04] Speaker A: I wonder if that was him messing up and they just kept her in because they thought liked it or feels intentionally like that.
[00:14:11] Speaker B: Yeah, could well be.
[00:14:16] Speaker A: Who knows?
[00:14:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't either way, I think it is utterly enough that if it was intentional, fair enough. But if it was a mistake, it certainly didn't seem like it could have been the director's intent to have it as a character trait.
[00:14:44] Speaker A: One thing I liked later in the film where you were just talking about is when they were pretend to be the FBI, when they went into that place to get the money, and then just outside where they run into get on the train, it's like they just robbed a place.
They run into jump on a freight train right in front of it. How daft can you be?
Also, I like that as well. He's like, oh, what's this place called? He's like, oh, red's pub or red's. In red's bar. Red. Something like that. And he's like, oh, is your name red? He's like, no, it's jim. I don't know what his name was. And he's like, oh, so why'd they call you red? It's a short for redwood. Because my last name is Wood. And I was like, he's like, what?
Red has nothing to do with his name. Why did they call him Red?
[00:15:40] Speaker B: I mean, you know, I had a few moments in mind when you sort of mentioned it's just a funny film. I think it is.
I think that's what helps keep the pace quite flowing.
And. Yeah, the soundtrack actually is done by Danny Elfman who did the Simpsons theme.
[00:16:07] Speaker A: Yeah, Batman. The movie Batman 1989.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: I think that could be your next movie then.
[00:16:19] Speaker A: Could be Batman.
Batman. I'm not Batman. Too fat. I'm fat man.
Yeah.
[00:16:32] Speaker B: So you haven't seen this film?
[00:16:35] Speaker A: I've seen some of the film before. I caught, like, a bit of air on tv before, but I didn't see it all. Yeah.
But I rather enjoyed watching it from beginning to end.
It was rather enjoyable, maybe I say is because I had to make her watch films. What shit you making me watch now? And she actually didn't mind it. She thought it was all right. She thought it was quite good. So that's a plus. Unlike Cloud Atlas, where she was like, do not make me watch films again.
And then I make a watch of everyone anyway. I'm a meanie.
[00:17:07] Speaker B: Okay. So I'm glad I've sort of redeemed myself somewhat with a film choice.
[00:17:14] Speaker A: Yeah, this is definitely, for me, a lot more fun to watch than Cloud Atlas. I know Cloud Atlas has a bit more going for it and it's a bit more of a complex story and what have you, but I found it quite boring, whereas this.
It just was engaging throughout.
[00:17:32] Speaker B: Yeah, I think Cloud Atlas is obviously a bit more complicated in terms of its setup, whereas this is just going from a to b with a bit of a squiggle in between, so it's not too difficult to follow and you can just enjoy the action and enjoy the humor of it.
So, yeah, I think.
I don't often watch films, but this one was one film that has stuck in my head. So glad to get the excuse to rewatch it.
But, yeah, I think, again, one of my favorite aspects of it was it's got the humor, it's got the action, but it's also got the sort of emotional moments. And I think the relationship between Jack and Duke is probably one of the highlights of it as well.
And just those two going off on each of it is like, I guess, watching, as I say, siblings or best friends just annoying each other.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: Yeah, I really enjoyed the film. I think that if someone hasn't seen this film, they should check it out. It is fun from beginning to end. It's not super serious. It is funny. It does have some action scenes, although they're not, like, over the top.
Most of it is silly stuff, and then you have a bit of action to break it up more than anything, I would say. But it's really fun and it's all well acted. I like all the characters in it.
[00:19:40] Speaker B: I think it still holds up to date as can.
It's not overwhelming, you know, I'm not familiar with the bail bond system in America, but you sort of get the gist of what they want about having to understand.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: Yeah. I also kind of like the mob boss guy. He was, like just a dick. And the way he treated his lawyer was brilliant. It's like, I will fucking. One of the things, he says something along lines, they talk and he's like, if you tell me to fucking not do this, I'm going to jam this phone right through your fucking skull and stuff like that.
And then when they leave, it's like, I know you're going to tell me not do this, but when you sit down, have a fucking glass of milk and a sandwich, I'm like, what? A glass of milk and sandwich.
Treat them like a child.
[00:20:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
That lawyer person, probably. I know he only had a few lines and was told to shut the fuck up most of the time, but I think he probably was the most sensible out of any of the characters.
[00:21:03] Speaker A: Yeah, I'd agree.
You give the guy good advice and the guy didn't listen at all, ever.
[00:21:15] Speaker B: So just to set up a sort of philosophical debate who do you think lied first?
Do you think Jack lied first about letting him go? Do you think the Duke lied first about being able to fly the Duke.
[00:21:35] Speaker A: Lied first.
[00:21:42] Speaker B: I feel like it's logic that when Jack lied to him he didn't know that he had lied initially so as far as Jack was concerned, he was lying first yeah but he.
[00:21:57] Speaker A: Did say though, he thought he might have been bluffing so maybe he did believe he was lying but he still couldn't make him fly who knows?
After give the writer a ring now and say, yo, dude, who lied first?
Yeah, but it is a good little thing like. But you didn't know I was lying therefore to you, you lied first I.
[00:22:24] Speaker B: Don'T know what on earth you're going on about.
[00:22:30] Speaker A: Yeah, it's an enjoyable film I guess we're going to wrap up soon but is there anything you'd like to say about the film as like a kind of thing, little pitch for the film, little thing I don't know dingy Mabobber.
[00:22:47] Speaker B: I mean it's available to watch on YouTube it's fairly two hour film but I think I'd certainly recommend it if you want something good to watch a bit light and something funny as well.
[00:23:12] Speaker A: Yes, it's a good film I rather enjoyed it it's quite different to the films I've watched recently in that I'm pretty sure they've been quite a bit more serious like the last film we did for this with me and Kerr was hippopotamus and that's a very different film to that this is like fun and the other one's like od but yeah, I think if you enjoy a good buddy bro kind of thing but not quite it's kind of a film where you have two people who don't get on gradually get on lots of silly situations arise there's a bit of action, bit of comedy it's all good check her out well worth it in my opinion yeah.
[00:24:13] Speaker B: If I were to give it a rating I'd probably give it maybe 90% I would.
[00:24:19] Speaker A: Give it an eight out of ten because I go with tens because I'm.
[00:24:22] Speaker B: Lazy okay, nine out of ten then.
[00:24:27] Speaker A: Yeah it is very good it's definitely worth a watch like I said, all the characters are nearer good they're all acted well just generally lots know I don't know because I like Jack and the duke together I think them two together are kind of good they play off each other well how about yourself?
[00:25:02] Speaker B: Yeah, it's tough because I think Jack and Maduke do go hand in hand. I did like the FBI agent Mosley. Mosley kept stealing with cigarettes.
One scene when he gets on the train and train staff's like, oh, this guy was also an FBI agent called Mosley. And just.
Yeah, I think aside from the two main guys, I think Mosely.
[00:25:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
Overall, like I said, really good film. Check it out. Like Jeff said, it's on YouTube, so it's easy to get to watch. Good film. I enjoyed the pick by Jeff.
Who knows when he's on next or more. He'll pick next. It'll probably be something that's an hour long because he seems to be going hours.
Yeah, everything works out in the end. They get married and live happily ever after.
[00:26:20] Speaker B: That doesn't use another long film.
[00:26:26] Speaker A: Well, last time I give you 2 hours. Before that, three. This time I'm combining the two and giving you a five hour film.
[00:26:35] Speaker B: As I say. That'd be the other Robert De Niro film, killers of a flower moon.
[00:26:42] Speaker A: Haven't seen it.
[00:26:44] Speaker B: I watched it with Penny actually in cinema.
[00:26:49] Speaker A: Oh, nice.
[00:26:51] Speaker B: Actually it's 206 minutes.
[00:26:55] Speaker A: Fair enough.
[00:26:58] Speaker B: That's hype. Three and a half hours.
[00:27:05] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that is going to be us then. As I said, I like the film. Jeff likes the film. We all like the film. You should watch the film.
Yeah. I'll see you again very, very soon.
Next time. No idea what the film will be, but next time. Catch you later, everyone.
[00:27:24] Speaker B: Bye bye.
[00:27:34] Speaker C: Why aren't you popular? Chicago police Department. Something that really doesn't concern you. She hurt you, Janet? Yeah.
I'm sorry.
What are you sorry about? I'm sorry you're hurt. I'm not hurt.
You just said you were hurt. I'm not hurt. You just said you were hurt. You said I was hurt. I asked you if you were hurt and you said, yeah, I'm hurt. That's because you made me say you started put words in my. Jack, you're a grown man. You have control over your own words. You got damn right I do. So here come two words for you.
[00:28:02] Speaker A: Shut the fuck up.
