Stakeout (1987)

Must See Movie...

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

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

Seattle cops Chris Lecce (Richard Dreyfuss) and Bill Reimers (Emilio Estevez)are assigned to run a surveillance operation on Maria McGuire (Madeleine Stowe) as it is believed that her ex-boyfriend (whom has recently escaped from prison) may try to make contact with her. This seemingly straight-forward operation proves to be tricky for both Lecce and his partner when Lecce starts to fall in love with Maria.Stakeout is another buddy-buddy cop film from the 1980's, but thankfully it is one of the better offerings within the genre. The plot in itself is nothing special, but director John Badham and writer Jim Kouf make sure that the film is filled with enough action and enough laughs to make sure that we're never really worrying much about the story.Richard Dreyfuss is not well-known for comedy performances, but he's all over this picture and gives 110% throughout the picture. He's very good at portraying nervy and unhinged types and this works perfectly here; he's in love with Maria, but he's also desperate not to blow his cover and the way that he continually digs holes for himself in trying to not reveal his secret is very entertaining to watch. Emilio Estevez isn't given as much to work with as Dreyfuss, but the dynamic and rapport between the two men is still excellent.Where this film really comes good is in the sheer number of funny scenes and scenarios that are thrown into the mix; the night-shift and day-shift cops both play pranks on each other, but the pranks that they play on each other aren't of the toilet-humour variety and they are in fact genuinely hilarious and creative (some of the pranks had me close to belly laughing which doesn't happen often). There were also subtle moments of humour such as the scene where the two cops are listening in to a phone conversation and you see the dog wearing a set of headphones as well. I thought that was a clever and good example of a 'sight gag.' Badham's direction is spot on and despite its slightly overly long running time the pace never slackens and he makes sure that there is never a dull moment in this film. In fact, the only criticism I could give this film is that it is predictable and a tad long. Having said that when a film is this funny, nothing else really matters.

Richard Montgomery (Aidan Quinn) makes a daring escape with the help of his cousin Caylor Reese (Ian Tracey). He killed an FBI agent and then they killed a prison guard. Chris Lecce (Richard Dreyfuss) and Bill Reimers (Emilio Estevez) are assigned to stakeout his old girlfriend Maria McGuire (Madeleine Stowe). Phil Coldshank (Dan Lauria) and Jack Pismo (Forest Whitaker) are the other two cops assigned the other half of the stakeout. She's suppose to be 313 lbs but instead, Chris starts falling for the beautiful McGuire.This has some mildly funny moments. Estevez is solid as the happily married man. Dreyfuss is the one with the fun brash single guy. They have good chemistry together and it's mostly a good buddy cop movie. It's missing some bigger laughs. The guys are not necessarily comedians for that to work.

The same year as the greatest buddy cop action flick of all time 'Lethal Weapon' and at times you can see a similarity to be honest. The opening credits definitely have a similar tone and font/colour to the Donner movies opening, but this movie is obviously more of a comedy than thriller. Who'd of thought you'd see Dreyfuss in a cop based action flick though huh, what's even more unusual is Dreyfuss is actually way more believable as the ass-kicking cop than baby- faced Estevez.So a dangerous criminal has broken out of jail and is coming after his ex-squeeze because she has a load of his money hidden away in her home (she doesn't know). The police are drafted in to stakeout the place (hence the movies title...huh huh) and watch over the woman whilst waiting for the crook so they can nick him. Its up to old man Dreyfuss and his younger partner Estevez to stake out this woman's home by night whilst two other cops (Lauria and Whitaker) stake it out by day. As you can imagine much pissing around and slapstick ensues as the main mustachioed duo of Dreyfuss and Estevez play pranks on the other two cops, snooping around the woman's house without permission and eventually interacting with her (without permission). As already said its surprising to see Dreyfuss being the cocky arrogant ladies man who basically gets Estevez into hot water with his unprofessional antics. You really really expect the wild card to be Estevez, instead he tends to sit on the sidelines being the uppity by the book cop in the duo. In fact this movie is mainly a vehicle for Dreyfuss truth be told, he's the man, he gets all the action and he gets the girl.This movie really took me back though, I remember seeing it on the shelves at my local videostore when I was a kid...hell I remember it coming out in the videostore. Its such a dated movie and so so very 80's (naturally), all the action is well shot and directed but its completely overblown in places, hyped up with a typical action movie score ad chock full of those typical action movie type sequences and closeups with witty quickfire quips. The only surprise the movie has going is the fact the bad guy doesn't die in a big way...he merely dies...oh spoiler warning...well not really its bloody obvious, this is an 80's action movie for heavens sake.The finale I'm talking of is quite an anti climax actually. The whole chase sequence is filled with guns firing, bullets pinging off metal just missing every bodies heads and both antagonist and protagonist are leaping around like gazelles on too much coffee. This all takes place in a logging factory with lots of big dangerous machines so you'd bet your bottom dollar the bad guy will get cut in half or squashed...or whatever. Well you'd think that but no! not in this action movie, nope it looks great, its tense but in the end it limps to a weak conclusion and of course soppy ending.I'm not saying the movie is poor...but I found it average, a poor man's watered down 'Lethal Weapon' really. Estevez and Dreyfuss are a good combination (oddly enough) and they do spark well off each other at times. The start of the movie is the most entertaining with the duo messing around and...ermm staking out. But as things progress and a love story blossoms it gets a little drab and cheesy, of course its predictable and really the main villain isn't that bad, or not bad enough. I know its not meant to be an overly violent action fest but its not overly funny either...just a standard cop flick with a standard wise-ass duo who like to break their bosses balls being rebellious (twas the thing back then).There isn't an abundance of action either to be honest, the odd car chase and gunfight routines. Being one of the earlier action movies in the genre it gets a pass as the concept is a little more original than other cop flicks and the duo are an unexpected quirky double team. Up against other big hitters like 'Lethal Weapon' '48 Hours' 'Beverly Hills Cop' etc...it can't quite compete but it holds its own just about. It does the job but it won't have you thinking about it much after the credits have rolled. Its a fast food action movie and its...well ya know...very 80's (get your Boglins out).6.5/10

For a film which reached number 1 at the US box office and earned enough movie for the studio to green-light a sequel, Stakeout has strangely enough become a forgotten 80s gem.The story is simple, officers Lecce (Richard Dreyfuss) and and Reimers (Emilio Estevez) are assigned to a stakeout of the house of waitress Maguire (Madeleine Stowe), hoping that her fugitive ex-boyfriend (Aidan Quinn) will return to her house. Things soon take a bizarre twist, as Lecce, posing as a telephone repairman, and Maguire start to fall in love.Although the film offers no originality and is riddled with clichés, it is very entertaining. Although it runs for nearly two hours, it thankfully doesn't feel that long and the story keeps you interested all the way. Richard Dreyfus and Emilio Estevez are quality comedians, somewhat surprisingly in my opinion. Their jokes and banter make the comedy part of this film work well.The thriller elements are good too, Aidan Quinn does a good job making his character look like a real bad-ass, and the film's action sequences are really solid pre-cgi-stuff. I was especially impressed by the car chase, which looks really good.Overall, this is pure solid 80s entertainment and I think this film deserves to be remembered and watched. I think it is equally good as many other 80s action classics like "48 hours" for example. Recommended!