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Poster for The Hard Way

The Hard Way

1991 · 111 min

A breezy, wisecracking buddy-cop ride where the jokes land and the action keeps things moving without asking much of you.

Tagline
There's only one way these two are going to get along...
Overview
Seeking to raise his credibility as an actor and to land a role as a tough cop on a new show, Hollywood action star Nick Lang works a deal with New York City Police Capt. Brix, who by chance is one of his fans. Nick will be paired with detective Lt. John Moss and learn how to act like a real cop. But when Nick drives John crazy with questions and imitating him, he gets in the way of John's pursuit of a serial killer.

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  • Sky Store
More options Data from JustWatch
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • lightstrength 2 of 3
  • satiricalstrength 2 of 3
  • cynicalstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 1 of 3
Pacing
brisk, 3 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
easy-watch, 2 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • identity
  • friendship
  • crime
  • obsession
  • deception
Places
  • big city
Era
contemporary
Audience
teen
Form
  • ensemble
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language mild
  • Violence strong
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action6
Horror2
Humour7
Realism6
Romance3
Tension5
Darkness4
Complexity4
Emotional weight4

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Where to watch in the UK

Rent or buy
  • Apple TV Store
  • Amazon Video
  • Sky Store
  • YouTube

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
action, comedy, crime
Directed by
John Badham
Written by
Daniel Pyne, Lem Dobbs
Starring
Michael J. Fox, James Woods, Stephen Lang, Annabella Sciorra, John Capodice, Luis Guzmán, LL Cool J, Mary Mara
Music
Arthur B. Rubinstein
Cinematography
Donald McAlpine, Robert Primes
Runtime
111 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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