When I 1st heard that a sequel was being made to the classic Midnight Run movie, I was like how are they going to top that classic? Unless they had everyone from the 1st film there, including Grodin in a cameo, it could just not be made. The very 1st major problem was that none of the originals would be back!(except for the character actor Frank Pesce, who had a very small bit role as one of Dorfler's bounties named Carmine in the original and in this sequel Pesce plays yet another small bit role as a different character named Vito) All The main guys would all be re-cast! Plus it was being made as a TV movie! That there alone is sacrilegious! In the original as we all know, De Niro's Walsh says the "F" word in almost every sentence! So now we are expected to swallow that this "new" Walsh does not use any profanity at all! That is what in part made the De Niro Walsh funny in the 1st place! Unreal!
Christopher McDonald is good actor, but he is in no way shape or form a De Niro. He tries to give his Walsh some some of his own touch but when you're talking about a character that was already tailor made for someone else and that someone else nailed it and made it his own, you got quite the challenge. McDonald did an okay job. He gave it his own touch and it was not bad. It was his persistence that paid off in the end and he emerged somewhat victorious against the nice con team of the great funny Jeffrey Tambor and the sultry Cathy Moriarty. They in no way shape or form present the Villain/bad-guys that the great late Dennis Farina presented in the original as Jimmy Serrano. It's interesting to note that Moriarty worked with De Niro back in the 1980's boxing classic "Raging Bull". It would have been such a treat to have had De Niro agreed to make this sequel and we would have had the pleasure of seeing these two work together again in a different setting scenario.
Dan Hedaya as Eddie Moscone: While Joe Pantoliano did a phenomenal job in the original, Hedaya did okay in his portrayal. I had no problem with him in this casting. Did not have much to do but answer the phone and get upset at Walsh or Dorfler but Hedaya gave Moscone justice. Now the problem I have is with the actor who they got for the Jerry Geisler role; John Fleck in no way shape or form gave justice to the role who the great character actor Jack Kehoe made his own. He gave no 'life' at all and did not resemble Kehoe's Geisler in any way ,shape or form except answering the phone and handing it over to Moscone! They did not even include the funny "I'll get donuts" routine that Kehoe's Geisler had with Pantoliano's Moscone in the original! Unpardonable! And another major loop hole in continuation was, did not the Geisler character get taken away by the FBI in the original for being a Mob informant?! So how did he get out and why would Moscone ,in this so-called sequel, hire him back? Let alone trust him again? Unbelievable writing by so-called experts.
Screen heavy Ed O'Ross as Marvin Dorfler: At 1st O'Ross made Dorfler appear really goofy and stupid but then gave it the needed substance the Dorfler character needed. The great John Ashton did such a great job in the original that this one was another hard role to cast. But I believe O'Ross did a credible job. The whole back n forth competition between him and McDonald's Walsh was pretty good. They were suppose to be working as a team but greed has a way of getting at these two. They help one another inadvertently and in a funny way.
All in all, a nice little TV movie. I re-watched it again because the 1st time I watched it, was back to back with original and that was a major mistake, because the obvious comparisons were just too much to compare. This time I watched the original and then a month later saw this "sequel" and I enjoyed it much more and it gave me more appreciation to the "new" cast in their interpretation of these now classic familiar roles. So it was well worth the effort. Just don't watch them back-to-back, Separate them with ample time in between viewings and you can enjoy this sequel on it's own merit.
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