Another Stakeout (1993) Reviews

• Location of "Another Stakeout" in British Columbia

  joycehm20042007-11-03

  Having just seen "Another Stakeout" for the first time since 1995, I decided to check out the online info about the locations that were used in the movie and, so far, haven't seen any credit given for the island off the BC coast where most of the filming was done. It was filmed on beautiful Bowen Island, a 15 minute ferry trip from Horseshoe Bay, just to the northwest of Vancouver. The initial scenes involving driving off the ferry were done in Snug Cove (they substituted the name 'Bainbridge Island'), and most of the exterior and interior shots were on the south side of the island in an area called Fairweather where, as you saw or will see in the film, the homes are gorgeous and perfectly suited for the plot (however meager you thought it to be). I've seen a number of comments about the filming having been done on an island in Puget Sound. A lot was shot in Seattle, but the majority was on Bowen Island - I should know - I was living there at the time. Just thought I'd set the record straight. (You can see the homes used for filming clearly on Google Earth, if you're interested.)

• Excellent

  ryan-george-22008-04-12

  Where to start... I genuinely appreciated Rosie O'Donnels performance in this film. Totally believable. The action scenes were epic, and I think influenced a lot of movies that came after it... specifically buddy cop sequels. The jokes were hilarious and the comedic timing was perfect. It was the first time I've seen a storyline like this in a story about cops. So that was very refreshing for me. Richard Dreyfuss and Emelio Estevez... A duo that you wouldn't expect to see on film... But wow... Total chemistry!! Line after line was just gold for me. I highly recommend this movie. I've told all my friends about it and they agree.

• Another Stakeout deconstructs a genre and reinvigorates modern cinema!

  ajbleed2008-04-17

  The first time I saw Another Stakeout was on opening night back in 1993. I had just gone through a nasty divorce and was living out of my Saturn. And I was floored by this movie. As the final credits rolled I applauded so loudly and hard that I bruised the bone in my left palm and several movie goers murmured "He must be drunk..." I finally stood up and yelled "You're drunk and stupid if you didn't get this masterpiece." I didn't leave the theater and sat there through three more consecutive showings. And I haven't looked back ever since. And with the exception of the one time I had a stroke while watching Another Stakeout and wasn't discovered for two days while I stared at a paused image of Dreyfuss and Estevez, I have enjoyed all 428 times I have seen this movie. This film isn't just funny, action packed and filled with characters we can relate to, it's a world we find ourselves wishing we could live in rather than the dark and nasty one we currently reside in. And though we quote the movie and dress up as characters from it every Halloween the sad truth is that the world doesn't work like Another Stakeout. When you watch someone through a window of their home you don't end up falling in love and there isn't a buddy next to you to crack wise with. The police show up and people yell and cry... Ordinarily I say "to each his own" when it comes to opinions about movies, but if you don't like AS 2 then you're not worth a cup of feces with a cigarette butt in it.

• Another Miserable Retread...

  MovieAddict20162004-01-29

  "That's it, nobody calls me Ed McMahon!" "Another Stakeout" was six years in the waiting. After the first film, "Stakeout," made a huge splash at the box office in 1987 (the same year another cop-buddy film came out--can you guess which one?), everyone anticipated an unnecessary--but perhaps funny--sequel that would inevitably result after box office earnings were tallied up by film executives in an office somewhere. Alas, the six years passed, and we got...this mess? Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez reprise their roles as stakeout cops who get paired with a new partner in this watered-down sequel. The new partner is played by Rosie O'Donnell, who is so startlingly unfunny in this it almost makes you involuntarily switch off the television as soon as you see her chubby face smiling at you. The story starts with a bang--literally--as a trial witness being protected by the CIA is unsuccessfully assassinated--and by that I mean: They die, she lives. What a surprise. (This is the type of scene where the villain is able to blow up a house but the witness just happens to be taking a stroll outside as it happens--or something like that--preventing her from dying along with the other agents who were previously protecting her. This type of thing was spoofed greatly in the truly underrated "Last Action Hero." It's not a joke in "Another Stakeout.") Unfortunately for the United States, the trial witness never returns--she runs away and doesn't let anyone know where she is. Afraid she may be in danger, afraid to lose a star witness, and believing that she might try to contact old friends, the gruff chief of police assigns the unlucky trio of Dreyfuss, Estevez and Donnell to watch the her old pals to see if she turns up. She eventually does, of course, but first we get some painfully unfunny buddy-buddy moments between Dreyfuss and Estevez and O'Donnell. She brings a bunch of clothing and a dog with her. They don't like it. Har-har. This was used a bit better in "Spaceballs," in which Princess Vespa brought along that entire luggage through the desert (remember?). This is just a copy of that scene, minus the punch line. Estevez also shaves his mustache, which is supposed to be a type of sacred moment and is referenced at least ten times throughout the film (he goes to stroke his mustache, he complains about chopping it off, Dreyfuss complains about it, etc.). But for heaven's sake, he's only been in one film so far--we've only seen the mustache once--so a better thing to do would have been this: make a few more sequels and, when the last entry comes, have him shave it off. By then the audience realizes that his mustache is part of him, and that losing it is like losing part of his soul. But I'm glad they didn't make any more than one sequel. One of the things that kept the "Lethal Weapon" franchise going was the fresh ideas, fresh buddies, and fresh scripts. (Great actors never hurt an action comedy, either.) The "Stakeout" franchise--which didn't even last long enough to spawn more than one sequel--tries to copy this formula but isn't sure how. The introduction of Joe Pesci in "Lethal Weapon 2" was great because he thereby became the Third Stooge, whereas O'Donnell's entry into the series is nothing but a humiliating reminder that talk show hosts can't always act in front of a camera and maintain the same type of humor they may (or may not) exhibit on their (awful) TV "talk show." (Which is, by the way, consumed of entirely staged so-called "interviews.") And whereas Pesci, as Leo Getz, added a type of silly vibe to the "LW" series, O'Donnell just seems like a carbon copy clone of Estevez from the first "Stakeout." Dreyfuss didn't like him at first, and--guess what--they suddenly became best buds. The same thing happens in the sequel, much to the audience's chagrin. Of course, "Lethal Weapon" and its sequels were never more than a few years apart (the first coming out in 1989, two years after the original). But "Stakeout" had six years to make a respectable sequel, and it fails. It fails the same way that many prolonged sequels do. But, for once, it's not because the audience has forgotten the original film--it's because the audience is fed up with the same routine. The film was directed by John Badham, which is surprising, since he's a talented director ("Saturday Night Fever," "The Hard Way," "Stakeout"). Here he jumps through all the hoops, turning his own series into a pale retread of the original--only watered down: minus the violence, language, nudity, and humor. I'm not saying a movie has to be R to be funny. But if you've got a sequel to an R-rated movie like "Stakeout" and you decide to turn its sequel into a cutesy-tutesy children's entertainment program, you'd better advise the audience before they sit down expecting something funny and fresh. What a disappointment. 2/5 stars.

• OK, Comedy thriller sequel to 'Stakeout' (1987) *** out of *****

  Welshfilmfan2009-01-07

  I've not seen the original movie so I don't know how this sequel compares in comparison, but on it's own merits, 'Another Stakeout' isn't too bad and actually quite enjoyable, despite Rosie O'Donnell getting on my nerves throughout. Richard Dreyfuss & Emilio Estevez play DET.Chris Leece & DET.Bill Reimers respectively and are joined by 'comic-relief' Assistant D.A Gina Garrett played by the universally annoying Rosie O'Donnell along with her Rottweiller pet dog as all three are staking out a lakeside home on a remote Island, where a Mafia trial witness is supposed to be going to, so as cover they pretend to be Husband,Wife & son with 'hilarious' results.... The comedy is absolutely dire and does jar with the occasional bouts of violence. co-starring Dennis Farina & Miguel Ferrer all in all not a great film by any means but worth watching if you've nothing better to do *** out of *****