Stakeout

• Director: John Badham
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Thriller
• Movie Type: Comedy Thriller, Police Comedy
• Themes: Bodyguards
• Main Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, Madeleine Stowe, Aidan Quinn, Dan Lauria
• Release Year: 1987
• Country: US
• Run Time: 117 minutes
• MPAA Rating: R

Plot

Though John Badham's Stakeout doesn't flinch in the violence department, the film concentrates primarily on characterization. Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez play a pair of Seattle detectives, assigned to capture escaped hood Aidan Quinn. The twosome spends much of the film on stakeout in a lonely, deserted house; the object of their scrutiny is Madeline Stowe, Quinn's former girlfriend. Pretending to be a telephone repairman, Dreyfuss plants a bug in Stowe's apartment--thereby inaugurating a romance that compromises the detective's objectivity. In the climax, Quinn gets the upper hand--at least until the fists start flying. Perfect as it stood, Stakeout didn't need to be elaborated upon with a sequel, but Another Stakeout was produced all the same. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Review

This 1987 oddball buddy flick was a commercial success thanks in part to its loose, hammy cast and its peeping Tom sensibility. Although certainly not of Rear Window's caliber, the film borrows from the Hitchcock classic's central premise of invading a stranger's private life. Director John Badham gives the concept a sleazy spin that generally adds to the overall comedic mood of the film, while Richard Dreyfus and Emilio Estevez make for an upbeat pair of clowns, espousing homoerotic humor and all manner of comic pranks and hijinks. Aidan Quinn is convincing as an escaped convict and Forrest Whitaker also lends support with a brief appearance. Badham uses the bleak, overcast city of Seattle as the story's backdrop, eliciting a surprisingly subtle mood for the farcical action-comedy. Stakeout was a big enough hit at the box office to produce a sequel of much lower quality.

~ Mike DiBella, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Richard Dreyfuss - Chris Lecce
• Emilio Estevez - Bill Riemers
• Madeleine Stowe - Maria McGuire
• Aidan Quinn - Richard "Stick" Montgomery
• Dan Lauria - Phil Coldshank

Forest Whitaker - Jack Pismo; Ian Tracey - Caylor Reese; Earl Billings - Capt. Giles; Jackson Davies - FBI Agent Lusk; Scott Andersen - Reynaldo McGuire; Lloyd Berry - Gas Station Attendant; Lossen Chambers - Supermarket Cashier; Gary Hetherington - Prison Doctor; Kim Kondrashoff - Billy Steeks; Don Mackay - Prison Officer; Blu Mankuma - 2nd Paramedic; Tony Pantages - Tony Harmon; Jan Speck - Kelly McDonald; Denalda Williams - Farol Bernie; Elizabeth Bracco - Bar Waitress; Don S. Davis - Prison Gate Guard; J.J. Makaro - B.C; David Brass - Cafe Waiter; Sid Kozak; Judy Taylor; Mike Fenton; Jane Feinberg; Roger Dean - Prison First Guard; Beatrice Boepple - Carol Reimers

Credit

Richard Hudolin - Art Director, Michael Ritter - Art Director, Sid Kozak - Casting, Judy Taylor - Casting, Mike Fenton - Casting, Jane Feinberg - Casting, Mary Vogt - Costume Designer, Rob Cowan - First Assistant Director, John Badham - Director, Michael Ripps - Editor, Tom Rolf - Editor, John Badham - Executive Producer, Arthur B. Rubinstein - Composer (Music Score), Philip Harrison - Production Designer, John Seale - Cinematographer, John Badham - Producer, Gregg Champion - Producer, M. James Kouf Jr. - Producer, Cathleen Summers - Producer, Lesley Beale - Set Designer, Rose Marie McSherry - Set Designer, Larry Sutton - Sound/Sound Designer, Gregg Champion - Supervisor/Manager, M. James Kouf Jr. - Screenwriter

Similar Movies

The Bodyguard; Fatal Beauty; Fuzz; They All Laughed; Big Momma's House; Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous; The Underclassman

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