Main Cast: Mel Gibson, Goldie Hawn, David Carradine, Jeff Corey, Bill Duke, Stephen Tobolowsky
Release Year: 1990
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
The can't-miss teaming of Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn is squandered on a clumsy, illogical romantic melodrama. Running across her old boyfriend Gibson at a Wisconsin gas station, Hawn is astounded that he seems not to recognize her. How could she have known that Gibson was put into the Witness Relocation Program after testifying against a homicidal mob boss (say, don't they usually alter your appearance when they put you in that program?) Curious over Gibson's furtive behavior, Hawn unknowingly sets herself up as a target for the bad guys. The whole affairs culminates in an after-hours showdown at a zoo (a plot device vastly improved upon in the 1996 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Eraser). While Bird on a Wire admittedly has its moments of enjoyment, most of the film is on a par with Gibson's embarrassing, homophobic scene with a pair of epicine hairdressers. And whoever heard of the Chinatown section of Racine, Wisconsin? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Joan Severance - Rachel Varney; Harry Caesar - Marvin; Alex Bruhanski - Raun; John Pyper-Ferguson - Jamie; Clyde Kusatsu - Mr. Takawaki; Michel Barbe - Maitre d'; Ken Camroux - Neff; Lossen Chambers - Lossen; Jackson Davies - Paul Bernard; Leslie Ewen - Night Receptionist; John Garber - Knatz, Nikita; Oscar Goncalves - Bank Guard; Tim Healy - Paul; Paul Jarrett - Carl Laemmle; Doug Judge - Cop at Cafe; James Kidnie - Underworld Boss; Kim Kondrashoff - Guard at Gate; Maria Leone - Sales Clerk; Blu Mankuma - Plainclothesman; Kevin McNulty - Brad; Robert Metcalfe - Dex; Tim Price - Beggar; Wendy Van Riesen - Secretary; Robert Thurston - Bank Teller; Brian Torpe - Bank Vice-President; Wes Tritter - Scotty; Danny Wattley - Cement Worker; Dan Zale - Fireman; Oscar B. Ramos - Cop at Fire; Lynda Gordon; Lynne Carrow; Judy Taylor; Mike Fenton; Florence Patterson - Molly Baird
Credit
Richard Hudolin - Art Director, Keith Rubinstein - Associate Producer, Fitch Cady - Co-producer, Eric Lerner - Co-producer, Louis Venosta - Co-producer, Eduardo Castro - Costume Designer, Wayne A. Finkelman - Costume Designer, Monique Stranan - Costume Designer, John Badham - Director, Frank Morriss - Editor, Dallas Puett - Editor, Hans Zimmer - Composer (Music Score), Shirley Walker - Musical Direction/Supervision, Leonard Cohen - Songwriter, Bob Dylan - Songwriter, Luis Jardim - Songwriter, Sandy Cooper - Makeup, Philip Harrison - Production Designer, Robert Primes - Cinematographer, Rob Cohen - Producer, Robert W. Cort - Producer, Ted Field - Producer, Rose Marie McSherry - Set Designer, John Thomas - Special Effects, Mic Rodgers - Stunts, Betty Thomas - Stunts, Eric Lerner - Screenwriter, David Seltzer - Screenwriter, Louis Venosta - Screenwriter
Rick Jarmin (Mel Gibson) helped convict a drug dealing FBI agent named Eugene Sorenson (David Carradine) and was placed in the witness protection program. 15 years later, his former fiancé Marianne Graves (Goldie Hawn) crosses paths with him at a gas station in Detroit, Michigan. Rick refuses to recognize Marianne because Sorenson has since been released from prison and he doesn't want to put Marianne's life in danger.
Sorenson and his partner Albert Diggs (Bill Duke) are now out for revenge on Rick. Marianne has blown Rick's cover, and he makes a frantic call to his relocation contact for a new identity — only to discover that his old contact has retired.
What's more, his new contact, Joe Weyburn (Stephen Tobolowsky), is in league with Diggs and Sorenson. Just as Marianne prepares to confront Rick, Sorenson and Diggs show up at the gas station with guns blazing.
They heartbreakingly kill Rick's kindly old boss at the gas station and pin the murder on Rick and Marianne, sending Rick and Marianne on the run.
