2. Jimmy Serrano - Midnight Run (1988)
Midnight Run, directed by Martin Brest (Beverly Hills Cop,) is an action comedy road movie starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin. De Niro plays a bounty hired to capture a mafia accountant, Grodin, whos escaped with crime boss Jimmy Serranos money. Midnight Run is an entertaining road movie but its Farina, as mob boss Serrano, who really steals the show. Serrano is a satisfyingly entertaining character, hes the classic angry boss surrounded by buffoons. Its Farinas well delivered no-nonsense put downs that elevate Serrano from generic mob boss to scene stealing status. You and that other dummy better start getting more personally involved in your work, or I'm gonna stab you through the heart with a f**kin' pencil. Do you understand me? But its not all jokes from Farina, in one particular scene where he explains his endgame to Grodin, hes revealed as a sociopath. Serrano is a constant joker but Farina reminds you that this is someone who wouldnt blink at killing an innocent. He is cold blooded to his core. Even after revealing his plans to murder Grodins wife, he effortlessly switches back to the jovial crime boss surrounded by idiots. Farina gives Midnight Run the sense of gravity it needs to make you really care about the future of its central characters.