Film

Tango & Cash (1989)

Director: Andrei Konchalovsky

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

'I heard you were the second best cop in LA', quips sartorially sleek Tango (Stallone). 'That's funny', retorts T-shirted slob Cash (Russell), 'I heard the same thing about you', The buddy-buddy banter is a set-up; so is the doped and 'wired' stiff they find on their first 'joint' operation. Result: a one-way ticket to the slammer on a trumped-up charge, leaving big-shot gun-runner Jack Palance free to take delivery of his biggest-ever shipment. All that remains is for our mismatched duo to go through the motions. So, after taking the obligatory beating from their fellow prisoners, they escape, tool up, and set about clearing their names while plotting Palance's comeuppance. Konchalovsky handles the slam-bang action with robust efficiency, but what makes this shoot-'em-up nonsense surprisingly watchable is Randy Feldman's rapid-fire dialogue, which constantly undercuts the macho posturings while parodying Stallone's screen image...even though the spectacularly empty finale eschews character-based comedy in favour of Bond-style megabuck explosions and gadgetry.

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