The Hard Way | Through the Shattered Lens

There was a time in the ’80s and ’90s when seeing either Michael J. Fox or James Woods on the cover of a VHS box at my local video store would guarantee a rental from me. Fox had been my favorite television star throughout the ’80s thanks to his performance as Alex P. Keaton on “Family Ties,” and I loved him in TEEN WOLF and the BACK TO THE FUTURE films. James Woods had become one of my favorite actors beginning in the latter half of the ‘80’s after I discovered his run of intense performances in films like COP, BEST SELLER, and TRUE BELIEVER. So, when THE HARD WAY paired these two favorites together in a “buddy-cop” film, it felt like a movie that had been made specifically for me. I recently upgraded my old DVD by purchasing the Kino Lorber blu-ray, so it was the perfect time for a revisit.

THE HARD WAY follows Nick Lang (Fox), a pampered Hollywood movie star who wants to prepare for a gritty new cop role by shadowing a real detective in New York City. Much to the frustration of badass Supercop John Moss (Woods), he’s forced by his starstruck Captain (Delroy Lindo) to show Lang around town and keep him out of any trouble. Even though he’s supposed to be protecting the megastar, Moss is also tracking a psychopathic killer known as “The Party Crasher” (Stephen Lang), and soon Nick Lang ends up smack dab in the middle of real danger.

By 1991, the buddy-cop formula had been going strong for a while, but director John Badham found a clever angle by pairing Michael J. Fox’s fantasyland “action star” with James Woods’ tough, no-nonsense New York detective. It sounds like a gimmick, and it is, but both the action and comedic elements somehow work.

The performance of James Woods keeps the movie moving forward from start to finish. His John Moss is perpetually angry, sarcastic to a fault, and always seems one minute away from completely losing it. He’s also exceedingly tough when he has to be. Woods plays the character with so much energy that it’s impossible to look away, and nobody gets on his nerves like the Hollywood golden boy. Michael J. Fox is perfect as the shallow movie star, because he could be completely insufferable, but he ultimately brings enough charm and self-awareness to the role to make the character likable. There’s a particularly funny, running joke where different people keep telling his “undercover” character that he looks kinda like Nick Lang… only shorter, or in one case, whiter. At the end of the day, it’s the chemistry between Woods and Fox that makes THE HARD WAY such an enjoyable action comedy!

I did want to shoutout Stephen Lang as well. His “Party Crasher” is a memorable and crazy villain. For a film that leans heavily into the comedy, Lang’s unhinged performance actually feels dangerous, giving the movie some grit and edge when he’s on the screen. I love watching movies from this time period to see the parade of recognizable actors that always seem to show up. This one doesn’t disappoint as Annabella Sciorra, Luis Guzman, LL Cool J, Delroy Lindo, Christina Ricci, and even Penny Marshall appear, to name a few.

One of the best things about THE HARD WAY is that it never sits still for long, which does keep you from focusing too much on a couple of glaring plot holes. The filmmakers smartly keep things moving back and forth between the jokes and the big action scenes, and most of the time it all works. It doesn’t reinvent the buddy-cop film, and it’s not necessarily the first movie you think of in the genre, but I consider it an underrated gem, and I feel like it may have fallen through the cracks over the years. If you’re a fan of peak James Woods, or if you fondly remember just what a big deal Michael J. Fox was in the 80’s, this one is a must watch.

Lt. John Moss (James Woods) is a cop with a problem. A serial killer who calls himself the Party Crasher (Stephen Lang) is killing people all across New York and he has decided that he will be coming for Moss next. However, Moss’s captain (Delroy Lindo) says that Moss is off of the Party Crasher case and, instead, he’s supposed to babysit a big time movie star named Nick Lang (Michael J. Fox)!

Nick is famous for playing “Smoking” Joe Gunn in a series of Indiana Jones-style action films. However, Nick wants to be taken seriously. He wants to play Hamlet, just like his rival Mel Gibson! (That Hard Way came out a year after Mel Gibson played the melancholy Dame in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1990 adaptation of Shakespeare’s play.) Nick thinks that if he can land the lead role in a hard-boiled detective film, it will give him a chance to show that he actually can act. To prepare for his audition, he’s asked to spend some time following Moss on the job. Mayor David Dinkins, always eager to improve New York’s reputation, agrees. (David Dinkins does not actually appear in The Hard Way, though his name is often mentioned with a derision that will be familiar to anyone who spent any time in New York in the 90s.) Of course, Moss isn’t going to stop investigating the Party Crasher murders and, of course, Nick isn’t going to follow Moss’s orders to just stay in his apartment and not get in his way.

The Hard Way is a predictable mix of action and comedy but it’s also entertaining in its own sloppy way. Director John Badham brings the same grit that he brought to his other action films but he also proves himself to have a deft comedic touch. Most of the laughs come from the contrast between James Woods playing one of his typically hyperactive, edgy roles and Michael J. Fox doing an extended and surprisingly convincing impersonation of Tom Cruise. Woods and Fox prove to be an unexpectedly effective comedic team. One of the best running jokes in the film is Woods’s exasperation as he discovers that everyone, from his girlfriend (Annabella Sciorra) to his no-nonsense boss, are huge fans of Nick Lang. Even with a serial killer running loose in the city, Moss’s captain is more concerned with getting Nick’s autograph.

Woods and Fox are the main attractions here but Stephen Lang is a good, unhinged villain and Annabella Sciorra brings some verve to her underwritten role as Moss’s girlfriend. Viewers will also want to keep an eye out for familiar faces like Penny Marshall as Nick’s agent, a very young Christina Ricci as Sciorra’s daughter, and Luis Guzman as Moss’s partner.

With its references to David Dinkins, Mel Gibson’s superstardom, and Premiere Magazine, its LL Cool J-filled soundtrack, and a plot that was obviously influenced by Lethal Weapon, The Hard Way is very much a period piece but it’s an entertaining one.