Armed and Dangerous, released in theaters on August 15, 1986, is a high-energy action-comedy that capitalizes on the proven, hilarious chemistry between its stars, John Candy and Eugene Levy. Directed by Mark L. Lester, the film pairs these two comedic forces in a plot that transforms a story of personal failure into a full-blown criminal conspiracy.
The story centers on two men whose lives have spectacularly derailed. Frank Dooley (Candy) is a good-hearted but overly aggressive police officer who is unjustly fired from the LAPD following a disastrous encounter. Meanwhile, Norman Kane (Levy), a bumbling attorney, has just been told by the judge to find a new career after mishandling a client’s defense in a preliminary hearing.
With their professional lives in shambles, they are forced to take the only work they can find: low-paid, often humiliating jobs as armed security guards for the private firm Guard Dog Security.
The two men, utterly mismatched and hilariously inept at their new profession, are immediately plunged into chaos.
However, their bumbling soon leads them to discover that their seemingly legitimate security company is merely a front for a sophisticated, massive-scale organized crime ring.
Dooley and Kane, motivated by a mix of justice and self-preservation, must reluctantly join forces with their attractive and skeptical supervisor, Maggie Cavanaugh (Meg Ryan), to expose the corrupt operation.
They soon find themselves up against the powerful, menacing figures running the organization, led by Michael Carlino (Robert Loggia).
Don Stroud, Brion James, Jonathan Banks, Kenneth McMillan, Tony Burton, Larry ‘Flash’ Jenkins, Tom ‘Tiny” Lister, Judy Landers, Bruce Kirby, James Tolkan and Steve Railsback round out the supporting cast.
Brian Grazer, James Keach, Harold Ramis and Peter Torokvei are credited on the script.
Meg Ryan and Robert Loggia in Armed and Dangerous (Photo/Columbia Pictures)
Reception for Armed and Dangerous
Armed and Dangerous grossed $4.35 million on its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office behind The Fly ($7 million) starring Jeff Goldblum and $45,000 ahead of No. 3 Aliens ($4.3 million).
Legacy
The legacy of Armed and Dangerous is its status as a beloved, if broad, 1980s comedy vehicle. It is a quintessential entry in the buddy-cop parody genre and is cherished by fans as one of the best examples of the on-screen collaboration between the Second City alumni, Candy and Levy, delivering plenty of physical comedy and sharp wit against a backdrop of escalating, high-stakes action.
