Summary: When it was originally conceived, Running Scared was a film about two older New York City cops who want to retire, but want to pull off one last big bust of a drug kingpin before settling into their golden years. MGM wanted Gene Hackman and Paul Newman to play the two leads. But after signing director Peter Hyams to the project, they were convinced that the two heroic cops should be younger…and from Chicago. MGM then went after Tom Selleck and John Travolta to play the lead roles of Hughes and Costanzo. Unfortunately, Selleck had to turn down the role due to commitments to Magnum P.I. And Travolta had several massages scheduled for that month. So MGM had to find their two hard as nails cops somewhere else. Eventually, they settled on the obvious choices of Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal. Hines , best known for dancing his way through The Cotton Club and White Nights, and Crystal, best known at the time for Saturday Night Live, but whose best known film role had been a pregnant man in 1978’s Rabbit Test. The man’s comedy was ahead of its time, beating Schwarzenegger’s Junior to the punch by nearly 16 years. Our film begins in present day, 1985 Chicago. It appears to be winter, but it always seems to be snowing in Chicago in the movies. Unless, of course, you are in a John Hughes film; then it is all sunshine and parades. Ray Hughes, played by Hines, and Danny Costanzo, played by Crystal, are two, unorthodox City of Chicago detectives. Their beat is Chicago's North Side, and what a wonderful beat it is. The film starts by our two hero detectives drinking soda pop and warming themselves by a trashcan that is one fire, as I imagine all detectives do, waiting for a crime to occur in their general vicinity. However, they are in luck on this particular occasion, as they see two of their frequent fliers, up and coming drug dealer Julio, played by Jimmy Smits, and Snake, played by Joey Pants himself. It seems these two are up to no good, so the duo decides to harass Snake, ultimately finding out that he has $50,000 in a suitcase. After convincing Snake that it is best if they arrest him, Hughes and Costanzo take him downtown and convince Snake to wear a wire and work for them. However, Snake is a sly one and is actually setting up the detectives...
