Bird on a Wire (1990)

That was an excellent one.

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Marianne Graves (Goldie Hawn) is a tough lawyer. Passing through Detroit, she runs into mechanic Billy Ray who looks exactly like her fiancé Rick Jarmin (Mel Gibson). Only Rick died in a plane crash 15 years ago. Rick is actually in witness protection and calls into the FBI to find his case handler gone. He had put away corrupt drug-dealing DEA agent Eugene Sorenson (David Carradine) who is now out on parole. Agent Joe Weyburn (Stephen Tobolowsky) schemes to get his new identity and location. Sorenson and his partner Albert Diggs (Bill Duke) almost kill him before Marianne comes to the rescue. The police are after them for the gas station owner's death and so do the bad guys.The situation is forced. Rick should have revealed his story sooner to Marianne. She most certainly walks away from him especially with their initial fighting. The police are after them with the flimsiest of evidence. The setup isn't very believable. There was a whole trial but apparently, one mouse click will erase everything. The movie is caught between the broadest of comedy and the biggest of action. I'm willing to live with all of it but the fake gay hairdresser is bad. The zoo is a weird place to go for the climax. The most notable thing about this action comedy is the title song.

Some movies followed the same routine over and over again. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it doesn't. And Bird on a Wire doesn't worked. With a cast that has two of the most attractive movie stars leading, it just didn't worked entirely for me. Bird on a Wire stars Mel Gibson as a retired FBI informant who is working as a car mechanic, staying away from all of the operations that he had to be part of in the past. One night, a lawyer, played by Goldie Hawn, enters Gibson's gas station and recognizes him after 15 years. Hawn learns that Gibson is hiding from the bad guys that were chasing and they eventually show up to kill him. Pretty ironic that you meet your old flame and your old enemies at the wrong place at the wrong time. When Gibson and Hawn go on the run after the bad guys pinpointed their position after founding where Gibson has been hiding out in Hawn's apartment, the movie turns into a chase, with Hawn and Gibson being chased through the streets of Detroit and even in the air with a crop-duster. Now, that is a cliché in movies that doesn't work. It seems to me that Bird on a Wire burrowed other elements from other movies. Basically, the movie that I thought of while watching Bird on a Wire was Romancing the Stone because at the end of this movie, the final confrontation takes place in a zoo, full of wild animals. That kind of setting brings out the adventure in the movie beside the crop-duster scene. As for the performances in the movie, Mel Gibson can be better in the Lethal Weapon movies and in the Mad Max movies because when he does star in the Lethal Weapon movies, he brings out a sense of style with his character. Here, there is no style at all. Goldie Hawn, I thought, was not appealing as Gibson's lover. She sort of goes into a Private Benjamin character. Another thing I couldn't understand is why did they have to show endless, gratuitous shots of Goldie Hawn's butt? I mean, what's the point of that? Their chemistry together don't work. I can tell this because this couple bicker and banter throughout this movie. That get aggravating for awhile. Bird on a Wire isn't exciting, isn't funny and surely, isn't that all thrilling. ★★ 2 stars.

I don't think this movie is as bad as some comments say, it is not a hit, but it is just the kind of movie I like very much and that IMHO are not being made anymore. It's a classical 90's easy-going action/comedy that won't disappoint anybody, who is not looking for a complicated plot and surprising end :)I really enjoyed watching this movie, especially thanks to a beautiful couple made by Mel Gibson and Golide Hawn. It's just one of those movies you can watch over and over again and it sill keeps you entertained (well, the final scene seems a little boring to me...).If you are looking for a nice action/comedy, check this one out, you won't be disappointed.

Thumbing through the reviews for John Badham's Bird on a Wire helped remind me of the particulars of why I hated this stupid, stupid movie in general. I remember going on a date to see BOAW, my girlfriend liking it, and me cringing a grin at the end.The things you'll do to get some.If brainless fluff (Goldie Hawn), ass jokes, and Mel Gibson acting sissified are your benchmarks for fine entertainment, I would strongly suggest you see this thing. Also, if it will help the evening along (if you get my drift).But, if anything with Badham's name on it raises your suspicions about the quality of a movie (and it should, because John Badham's picture is beside the entry "Hack Directors" in the big dictionary of film making), please avoid it.