I worked on a Martin Brest film. Not this one, one of the ones that killed his career. He does a lot of takes, and when he’s filming he doesn’t give a lot of direction. He lets the actors play the scene. Sometimes it’s more comic, sometimes it’s more dramatic. It’s a tone he’s struck with all his films, good and bad. I’ve watched it when it’s not working, so I’d be interested to see where it was.
Midnight Run is seen as a modern classic now, but it was a disappointment at the time because Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin are not action-comedy stars that bring people to the box office. What they’re both very good at is character-based improvisation. The pair came into this film with reputations for making a film better while staying in character. Now, there have been a number of articles looking back on Midnight Run and citing scenes where the two – and the deeply talented supporting cast – would improve scenes in the moment. I’m especially fond of anything involving Joe Pantoliano or Dennis Farina, but if I was on set it would be for the two stars conning their way into some money by pretending to be FBI agents looking for counterfeit bills.
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