Bird on a Wire (1990)

Elevator Pitch: An evil drug dealer is released from prison and with his associate goes on the rampage after the man who jailed him, Rick Jarmin. Rick is in witness protection but is recognised by his former love interest Marianne Graves, now a successful lawyer. Rick, realising his safety is jeopardised, calls his handler who has been replaced by a man in the pay of Eugene, the drug dealer. Fortunately Marianne has returned and rescues Rick as the garage where he has been working is blown up. Rick’s boss is killed and so the police as well as the drug dealers are after them. In the hope of validating his status he goes from one of his former places of employment to another with the villains in hot pursuit, in the meantime he and Marianne are bonding, but will they survive?

Content: There is one decorous sexual event, with a well presented female bum in low light. So the majority of the film is taken up with Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn doing quite exciting stunts. These include driving in a convertible BMW, dashing about in on a motor cycle, taking to the air in a crop duster where they are chased by a helicopter, interspaced with visits to Rick’s former workplaces which included a hairdresser and a vetinarian facility, before the finally get to a zoo full of dangerous animals.

A View: I was quite surprised by the generally negative reviews this film received. But even so it made some money. I thought that even though Goldie Hawn is about a decade older than Mel Gibson, they did really well together, and apparently he persuaded her to do her own stunts, which must have made a difference. So in my view worth  watch if you appreciate Mel Gibson’s film persona. 

Here are a few other Mel Gibson films reviewed on this site which I think are fun: Maverick, Lethal Weapon, Get the Gringo.