Stakeout
Short description
Two Seattle detectives, Chris Lecce and Bill Reimers, are assigned a dull surveillance job: watching Maria McGuire, the former girlfriend of an escaped convict, on the assumption that he will eventually contact her. Chris, bored and restless during the long stakeout, becomes drawn to Maria and eventually approaches her in person rather than simply observing her. His growing feelings complicate the investigation, especially once the fugitive they are waiting for finally surfaces.
John Badham directed the film, the seventh of the fifteen features he has directed in chronological order, following Short Circuit and preceding Bird on a Wire. Jim Kouf wrote the screenplay and produced alongside Badham and Cathleen Summers. Richard Dreyfuss plays Chris, with Emilio Estevez as his partner, Madeleine Stowe as Maria and Aidan Quinn as the escaped convict. The supporting cast includes Dan Lauria and Forest Whitaker as fellow detectives.
The film was released in August 1987 and runs 116 minutes. Made for a budget of 16 million dollars, it returned 5 million dollars worldwide, a poor result against its cost. Audiences are generally favourable: it holds 6.9/10 on IMDb from around 62,000 votes and 6.5/10 on TMDB from roughly 470 votes. A critics' rating of 7.5/10 from 164 reviews places it above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- During the chase scene with the police pursuing the bad guys, as they shoot at each other, one police officer hits the rear taillights. However, in the next scene they appear completely undamaged. Later in the film, those same lights are broken again.
- Leonard Nimoy was one of the candidates for the director's position, however, he had already signed a contract to film the comedy "Three Men and a Baby" (1987) and was unable to accept the offer.
- At the end of the film, the bloodstain on Maria's chin changes size after a cut.
- When the police car begins to spin on the embankment, a film crew is visible under the bridge. Its members are wearing blue and red jackets.
- When the car falls into the river, the driver inside disappears.
- During the first arrest at the fish processing plant, mountain peaks can be seen in the distance near downtown Seattle. In reality, there are no mountains there; the closest one, Rainier, is a two- to three-hour drive away.
- The role that Aidan Quinn received was originally intended for Val Kilmer.
- One day during filming, Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez amused themselves by playing a game of guessing movies. Emilio Estevez said the line, "It's not a boating accident." Richard Dreyfuss didn't recognize the quote, even though he himself was the actor who spoke those words in *Jaws* (1975). The director liked this amusing incident so much that he decided to include it in the film.
- When the police shoot out the rear window of the criminal's car, it's noticeable that at that moment it is being smashed from the inside with a hammer.
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a man with anterograde amnesia (a disruption of memory about events after the onset of the disease). To appear more believable on screen, the actor barely slept and spent a lot of time in the gym before filming, after which he would arrive on set somewhat sluggish from fatigue. The actor met and spoke with several people with brain injuries and even read one of the works of Alexander Luria (1902-1977), a psychologist and founder of Soviet neuropsychology.
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
