1987 - STAKEOUT, popular comedy thriller from the 1980's.

This buddy cop film was very popular at the time of release.  The critics gave it fairy decent reviews and it made good money for Disney Studios.

The plot is sort of a mash up of Hitchcock's Rear Window. Two cops played by Richard Dreyfuss and Emilo Estevez are on a stakeout at the home of a former girlfriend of a dangerous escaped convict.  The girlfriend just happens to be a real knockout and the Dreyfuss character manages to meet her and eventually sleep with her.  The last part of the film is an action climax with the cops taking on the escaped convict.

Richard Dreyfuss was at the peak of his career as a movie star.  He essentially played a cocky smart ass in film after film.  Emilio Estevez was probably at about the height of  his popularity and was considered a member of "The Brat Pack," a group of young actors that the press usually heaped scorn on.  In this film they both wear what can charitably be called "porno star mustaches."  The female lead was played by an actor named Madeline Stowe who naturally has to show some skin.

The film was produced by Disney's Touchstone division which released mildly R rated films without the Disney label on them.  A clever trick.  The director John Badham was a good studio craftsman who had bailed out Saturday Night Fever a film that was in chaos during production.  Needless to say Saturday Night Fever was very popular.

 

Stakeout is what you could call a crowd pleasing somewhat contrived studio production.  It has action, comedy and some leering sex jokes but it's all presented in a way so as to not offend the 80's audience.  It's kind of dated and really not that good, a time killer of a film for the most part.  Nothing special to see here.

The film was written by Jim Kouf, the running time is 117 minutes.