Tough Guys | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Jeff Kanew |
Produced by | Joe Wizan |
Written by | James Cruikshank James Orr |
Starring | |
Music by | James Newton Howard |
Cinematography | King Baggot |
Edited by | Kaja Fehr |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
Release date
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October 3, 1986 |
Running time
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104 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $18 million |
Box office | $21,458,229 |
Tough Guys is a 1986 action comedy film starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Eli Wallach, Charles Durning, Dana Carvey and Darlanne Fluegel. It was directed by Jeff Kanew. This was the first film to be released under the banner of Touchstone Pictures rather than Touchstone Films.
Lancaster and Douglas had already made several films together, including I Walk Alone (1948), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), The Devil's Disciple (1959), and Seven Days in May (1964), becoming something of a team in the public's eye. Douglas was always second-billed under Lancaster but, with the exception of I Walk Alone, in which Douglas played a villain, their roles were more or less of equal importance. Tough Guys was their final collaboration.
Harry Doyle (Lancaster) and Archie Long (Douglas) are gangsters who've served a 30-year prison sentence for hijacking a Southern Pacific train called The Gold Coast Flyer, ready to collect Social Security.
Their parole officer, Richie Evans (Carvey), who seems to be more of a fan of historically notable criminals than a representative of law enforcement, meets Harry and Archie at the gates and offers them a ride. Meanwhile, Leon B. Little (Eli Wallach), an elderly hit man with bad eyesight who still has an outstanding contract on them, immediately tries to kill them. Harry and Archie manage to get away.
At Richie's office, they are informed of the conditions of their parole. Harry, at age 72, is committed to a retirement community; despite his desire to work, he's past the mandatory retirement age of 70. Archie, still allowed to work at age 67, takes a job at an ice cream parlor and later a restaurant. They are told not to have further contact with each other for at least three years.