The Screen Addict | Stakeouts

Growing up during The Eighties and Nineties made me particularly partial to directors who had their biggest hits during that era. One of these filmmakers is John Badham, the journeyman director who helmed Action classics like Bird on a Wire (1990), The Hard Way (1991), Drop Zone (1994) and Nick of Time (1995), the real-time Thriller that was basically 24 avant la lettre.

Badham also helmed two of the more interesting entries in the buddy-cop genre – Stakeout (1987) and Another Stakeout (1993), starring Emilio Estevez and Richard Dreyfuss. As demonstrated in the aforementioned BoaW and THW, the director clearly is an expert in the pairing up of opposites, and the “Stakeouts” are further proof of his knack for this type of film.

Both movies deal with detectives Bill Reimers (Estevez) and Chris Lecce (Dreyfuss) being assigned to covertly watch over a person who might be a connection to a dangerous criminal.

Pablo Picasso famously said: “Good artists copy, great artists steal”, and Badham really took that statement to heart for the opening sequence of Stakeout. The scene is very much reminiscent of how the characters in 48 Hrs. (1982) and Lethal Weapon (1987) are introduced. Hey, might as well steal from the best, right?

It’s fair to say that some elements in Stakeout haven’t aged well. One sequence in particular sees the cops abuse their mission to watch the woman they are monitoring undress. A scene like that would take on a whole different meaning in contemporary Hollywood, but I doubt anyone even batted an eyelid back in ‘87…

Other jokes are still spot on. To fight boredom during the long stakeouts, the guys try to entertain each other with random trivia. At one point, Estevez quotes Dreyfuss a line from Jaws (1975) and draws a blank from him…

The comedic chemistry between Dreyfuss in Estevez is just wonderful throughout both films, truly one of the best pair ups in buddy-cop Comedy history.

After the success of Stakeout, Badham and his team had a little more money to play with on the sequel. The opening sequence of AS therefore features a nice big boom that would make even John McClane a little nervous. The addition of Rosie O’Donnell as the assistant district attorney who takes part in the stakeout this time round, is a nice twist on the formula as well.

Watching the films back to back really made me feel quite nostalgic for this type of movie. Streamers have more or less adopted the genre now that studios are no longer interested in the buddy-cop format, but it’s just not quite the same.

Veteran screenwriter Jim Kouf did conjure up the buddy-cop magic again several years later with the Jackie Chan - Chris Tucker vehicle Rush Hour (1998), so it would be fair to call him an expert of the genre. The last decade or so saw Kouf flexing his writing muscles mainly for television however, most significantly as the creator of Grimm.

Like his Stakeout screenwriter Kouf, Badham too applies his skills predominantly to the smaller screen these days, which is perfectly understandable given the huge amount of work that is available within that medium. I wouldn’t mind seeing him make a comeback to cinemas, though. Maybe a Stakeout - THW Crossover where Estevez and Dreyfuss join James Woods in “babysitting” Michael J. Fox? Or a sequel that finds the guys staking out Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn who have gone on the lam again?

Just spitballin’ ideas here…

In any event, solid recommend.

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Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict