I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

When I'm watching it this is my favorite movie. If I'm watching, 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum', that's my favorite. The rest of the time I'm torn. This is one of the flicks I'd give an 11 if I could. It has very nice eye candy, good action, a great cast, excellent tunes AND the funny is the sh*t. Not sh*t sh*t, good sh*t. This is a must see for fans of buddy cop flicks. It is simply outstanding and I can watch it every year.

I like Billy Cristal and I discovered Gregory Hines in this movie, he is a great actor. I also usually love Buddy movies that's why I was terribly disappointed by this one. First of all, the plot starts really late, around 25 minutes of the film, when we learn that the body in the street was a cop's one. Before that, we just knew who will be the bad guy, not really how and why. So the first part, even with funny moments, is kind of plot less and a bit boring. Then, we are finally interested in the plot, the heroes scr*w it on the boat with two other undercover cops (who aim like sh*t)and then we lost another 10 minutes of the movie with a plot less 80's montage + scene about heroes forced holidays just to learn they decide to quit (maybe it was still original at this date) and to buy a bar (that will never be a real dilemma for them, we Spectator already know they won't really quit and it doesn't seem to be really important to them either). So, back to the action now, many script problems will occurs: - Bad guy or antagonistic forces are not enough dangerous or are well portrayed. we never really care about them, we never feel danger for the Buddy cops so we never really empathized. - Love story is totally cliché except the one with Hines that is funny. - Investigation and cocaine story is poor. - Action scenes are really poor and danger or dilemmas never really present so we're not really involved in the movie as the way they succeed in danger is not really rewarding most of the time (what was the rope scene at the end by the way???!!! Why did he climb just for that??!!) - Lot of strange things like fake snow or the way they throw bullets in the car, clearly aiming for the head, while smiling. Of course, there are nice jokes here and there, the movie is full of good will and it is a real positive movie but it doesn't make a good movie. And I'm the first to be sorry for that as I enjoy watching Buddy movies. 5 out of 10 (but it could even deserve less than the average note).

This movie is from when real good, watchable movies were being made. One of my all-time favorites, but you really do have to be from that age group to appreciate. My younger friends just don't get it... A great, action/comedy, from 2 really good comedians of the time. Billy Crystal & Gregory Hines make a very good duo, and the story line, while a bit predictable, provides for some very good action. Contains some exceptional one-liners from both main characters. Enough humor to keep you laughing, and enough action to make it interesting to watch. Someone called it an old-school version of "The Other Guys". It's WAY better than that, but it's not a terrible comparison. The guy that plays their Captain (Carla's ex-husband on Cheers) could have been much better, but he did an adequate job, as did the rest of the cast, backing up Crystal/Hines. Highly recommend!

This movie brings back a lot of memories for me. I was living in Chicago at the time this movie was being shot and it was on the news once or twice. I only saw it recently as I really did not want to see a movie with Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines as a couple of tough cops. Neither one looked like they can take down a girl scout let alone Chicago's toughest criminals. Neither one even know how to hold a gun properly. Plus at the time male cop buddy movies were a dime a dozen. The movie is about a couple (Crystal and Hines) of Chicago cops who suddenly find themselves on the trail of a big time drug dealer(Jimmy Smits). When the guy gets out on bail the boys are so mad that their captain tells them to cool off and they go to Florida. I'm not sure what their respite in the Sunshine state had to do with the movie but it was enjoyable to see Florida during the Miami Vice era again, complete with women in tiny bikinis. Anyways the boys get the idea of retiring and running a bar, but first they have to finish the case.Getting back to Chicago means it's time to get back to the case, which means there are going to be shootouts and car chases, typical of the buddy films of that era. The action sequences in the film are very good. They were fast paced and very well done. Not amateurish at all. There are several gunfight scenes, one in particular that really sticks out was shot in the then newly opened State of Illinois building. The car chase taking place on the 'L' or elevated train alone is worth putting this film on your Netflix list. It's easily one of the best car chases from that era. Casting Mr. Hines and Mr. Crystal as cops was a curious choice. As I said neither of them looked like they could take down a Girl Scout, but they sure do know how to deliver funny lines. Billy Crystal in particular certainly knows how to make things funny. When he was in shadows pretending to be an old lady and when he was pretending to be his boss on the phone. His comedic range is pretty good. Others in the cast played their role basically straight and really without much originality. They're all just straight men to the two leads."Running Scared" is a good action comedy that has no pretension of being anything else. It's a funny and entertaining. I have to say I'm a little biased because I lived in Chicago a long time and seeing the city again brings back so much memory. I mean I remember having been in some of the locales. Also I have to say seeing this movie is a reminder how lovely Darlanne Fluegel was. She played Billy Crystal's ex-wife. She's as lovely as Sharon Stone was during this era and a much better actress.