SummaryTwo street-smart Chicago cops have to shake off some rust after returning from a Key West vacation to pursue a drug dealer who nearly killed them in the past.
Directed By:Peter Hyams
Written By:Gary DeVore, Jimmy Huston
Running Scared
Metascore
Mixed or Average
49
User score
Generally Favorable
6.2
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
49
36% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
50% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
14% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
80
Nonstop banter between the two stars is rowdy, intimate, natural and often very funny. Hyams keeps most of it fresh, including the action ending, staged within one of Chicago’s architectural spectacles, the cavernous, glass-enclosed Illinois State Building.
70
With their sloppy slapstick and wet Menudo jokes, one only wonders why more people aren't out to kill them. But Crystal and Hines do flavour the film with genuine warmth, and despite some cheap gags, work well together to produce some truly funny moments.
63
Crystal and Hines are immediately likable on the screen, so the fact that Running Scared isn`t all that we expect must be due to the script. The film`s ending does leave room for a sequel. If one is made, director Hyams should get Crystal and Hines a better story as well as that bar in Florida.
50
The comedy gets crushed just as surely as our heroes' cop car does in a compactor. This is a shame, because Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal, who play the daredevil cops who banter their way through these bullet-strewn streets, are two extremely likable performers who deserve a director more attuned to their charms. [30 June 1986, p.60]
50
Hines and Crystal succeed in creating a new buddy team that ranks with the likes of Robert Redford and Paul Newman.
40
Decent premises and the promise of Billy Crystal pale in a film that fronts up to, then whimpers away from, the prospect of leaping out of its genre's boundaries.
30
Still another, thoroughly depressing demonstration of the extent to which television now dictates the style and the manners of so many of the movies we see in theaters.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.2
44% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
44% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
11% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Feb 4, 2025
6
A decent buddy cop romp, wish there was more Key West scenes, action wasn't great but an all around serviceable time and movie.
Aug 22, 2020
2
Just saw this on a pay TV service and I have to tell you that this movie did not age well. Its the writing. For the first 20 minutes its all how cool and nonchalant tough the two throwback detectives are and the plot just drags showcasing the actors and not getting along with the plot of the movie. Had to turn it off 30 minutes in. Only reason I give it a 2 is because I am a Billy Crystal fan (and he was shockingly young in this movie.)
Production Company:
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
- David Foster Productions
- Turman-Foster Company
Release Date:Jun 27, 1986
Duration:1 h 47 m
Rating:R
Tagline:Two of Chicago's Finest?
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Nomination
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
