Great Character: Jack Walsh (“Midnight Run”)
The Great Character theme for the month: Action Comedy. Today: Jack Walsh from the movie Midnight Run.
After directing Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop, the most lucrative theatrical blockbuster of 1984, Martin Brest returned in 1988 with another classic action comedy: Midnight Run. Moving from megastar Eddie Murphy to the legendary leading man Robert De Niro in his first full-on notable comedy role, Brest took the gags and guns genre on a road trip from Los Angeles to New York City, then through Chicago and back to L.A. via planes, trains and automobiles.
Screenwriter George Gallo’s script for Midnight Run evolved into a trio of TV movie sequels, all released in 1994: Another Midnight Run, Midnight Runaround and Midnight Run for Your Life. Actor Christopher McDonald (Thelma & Louise, Requiem for a Dream) picked up Robert De Niro’s baton as bail bondman-for-hire Jack Walsh on living room screens. But it is De Niro’s original portrayal of this short-tempered and intensely self-righteous action comedy character in Midnight Run that proved Jack Walsh can carry a gun and carry his half of a buddy comedy.
Midnight Run IMDB:
An accountant is chased by bounty hunters, the FBI, and the Mafia after jumping bail.
We meet Jack Walsh doing exactly what his character will be doing for the rest of Midnight Run — tracking down bailed out jail residents. Bullets fly and escape routes are utilized, with Walsh having to fight off the competition in order to bag the temporarily AWOL shot popper and collect his cash reward.
JACK WALSH: Did your mother ever teach you how to react to strangers? And not shoot at them?
The hard knock life of Jack Walsh is compounded by the fact that he has to practically beg for his payment and negotiate his way into what he feels he deserves.
JACK WALSH: (Screaming to Eddie Moscone on the phone) You put Marvin on this case, you fuckin’ piece of shit? You fucking, deceptive — You VERMIN! You SLIMEBALL in a SEA of PUS!
The enticing Midnight Run action plot is peppered with an untrustworthy social scene that is flooded with practically every single character with a speaking role blocking Walsh’s $100,000 score to return “The Duke,” Jonathan Mardukas. This Chicago mob accountant who swindled $15 million from the top crime family boss and decided to donate this incredible sum to charity is also attempting to give Walsh the slip, into anonymous obscurity. Aside from shady bail bondsman staff and a competitive rival hunting down his man, Jack Walsh still has the FBI and mob members progressively in pursuit of “The Duke.” Watching Walsh scream and squirm his way in and out of each setback he encounters illuminates his volatile temper, law-abiding devotion and empty private life.
JACK WALSH: Are you going to propose? Propose. Cause if your not, stop staring at me.
Walsh’s blood boils way beyond room temperature with each walking, talking and gun-slinging obstacle blocking his path to glory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9nG9RByMRI
This action comedy has a road trip adventure vibe that keeps Jack Walsh in constant movement, like James Bond with a bitter attitude.
JONATHAN MARDUKAS: It means I can’t fly. I also suffer from acrophobia and claustrophobia.
JACK WALSH: I’ll tell you what: if you don’t cooperate, you’re gonna suffer from “fistophobia”.
But the intriguing element of Jack Walsh that separates him from the typical hollow head action heroes that litter the genre with disposable clichés is that we learn exactly what disappointments have compromised any bright side for Jack to look forward to. He previously worked for a police force paid off by the mob and lost his wife and daughter, who are now the sole responsibility of a top cop in Chicago.
Just like the behind-the-time watch that Walsh’s ex-wife gave him, Jack is frozen in time, too late to benefit from the past and also too tardy to enjoy the present tense to its full potential. To avoid the reality check that Jack Walsh is not a fan of his own life, he exorcises his evil depression from his frantic soul by moving towards his money in an expedient linear trajectory. But “The Duke” proves to be thinking three steps ahead of him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppj45Ai524s
For his aggressive forward pace during his midnight run, his think-on-his-feet while he runs on his feet manifesto and his difficult desire to be loved despite his harsh “people skills” — Jack Walsh is a witty and recklessly GREAT CHARACTER.
I remember Midnight Run quite well, not only because I enjoyed it, but also because it was a Universal Studios movie like K-9. The movies were released about a year apart and as much as people in Hollywood remember Run fondly, K-9 actually outgrossed it: $43M to $38M. Nonetheless the chemistry between De Niro and Grodin was fantastic, a nifty spin on the mismatched buddy formula, and the character of Jack Walsh is, as Jason points out, one of the more distinctive action-comedy figures during the 80s.
Thank you, Jason, for this post. Please join us in comments to discuss Midnight Run.
You may follow Jason on Twitter: @A2Jason.
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