Stakeout

A comedy thriller about two policemen on surveillance duty. Chris and Bill are assigned to watch the former girlfriend of an escaped convict. They set up in the flat opposite with binoculars and listening equipment and take the watch in shifts. The wait drags on and the job becomes dull. Then Chris makes a mistake: he meets the woman. He introduces himself as somebody else and a relationship begins. So the man is running the surveillance and dating the person under surveillance. The comedy comes from that double position: each lie requires the next, and his partner does not know. The narrative turns to suspense in the second half; the fugitive really does come and the threat becomes serious. Richard Dreyfuss plays Chris, Emilio Estevez plays Bill and Madeleine Stowe the woman. Aidan Quinn plays the fugitive. John Badham directed. It did far better than expected at the box office and a sequel followed six years later. An enjoyable choice for anyone who likes 1980s comedy thrillers and the two-cop template. For a viewer looking for surprises, the narrative proceeds predictably; the real strength is in the fit between the pair.