ANOTHER STAKEOUT. Directed by John Badham; written by Jim Kouf; produced by Jim Kouf, Cathleen Summers and Lynn Bigelow for Touchstone. Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez and Rosie O'Donnell. Rated PG-13.
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It took them longer than usual to get around to making a sequel to 1987's Stakeout. But it was worth the wait. This one is just as smart, funny and exciting as the original.
Dreyfuss and Estevez, a much more unlikely pair of cop partners than the Lethal Weapon duo, but at least as successful, return here as masters of undercover, stakeout, and snappy one-liners.
This time there's a third wheel, in the person of O'Donnell, who plays a district attorney with an interest in the case. Although her character is supposed to be quite different from the cops', their comedy styles fit together seamlessly to form a very funny trio.
There's a generous helping of mayhem in Another Stakeout, too; in fact perhaps too many grisly murders. The action fans in the audience who might be bored by too much witty repartee, should be satisfied.
The head villain is a hit man played by Miguel Ferrer, who's gotten awfully good at this kind of part. So you know that the good guys will have some worthy competition. Another standout in the cast is Cathy Moriarity as the State's witness that both the good and bad guys want to find. She doesn't have much screen time, but is very effective with what she's got. Madeleine Stowe, who made her film debut as the object of the original Stakeout, reprises her role here as Dreyfuss' continuing romantic interest. This subplot could have been distracting, but instead it's nicely worked into the main story and provides some extra entertainment value.
August 18, 1993