Ausborne Blog

Judge Oddone made the assignment to watch the 1988 movie Midnight Run, and then do a write-up of it.  Here’s mine.

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Ah, what did I learn from Midnight Run?  For starters, I guess I learned that bail bondsmen, bounty hunters, FBI agents, and Guido Mafiosi like to cuss.  No, that’s not much of a surprise.  I suppose that I learned that the Judge and I both find the same types of movies to be entertaining.

All joking aside, I watched Midnight Run trying to figure out why Judge Oddone wanted me to watch it.  I think he wanted me to learn what it is that bail bondsmen do for a living.  He wanted me to figure out how it is that they are willing to put money up to bail some lowlife scum-sucking flight risk out of jail, yet still be able to stay in business.  He also wanted me to learn that the life of a bounty hunter can be pretty difficult and harrowing.  Did he also want me to see that mobsters always end up getting caught at the end of a two hour chase?  Cuz I already knew that.

Well, for our analysis, let’s take a look at what happens when a poor innocent schmuck gets thrown in the clink for possession.  I hesitated to call the guy a criminal because everybody is technically innocent at this phase of the proceedings.  The guy gets locked up and wants to get out jail for a little while before trial, but his bail is set for $100,000, 10% of which needs to be put down in the form of good old fashioned American cash.  The problem is that he doesn’t have $10k just sitting around because he’s been spending all of his spare cash on blow.  (Remember that I said he’s technically innocent, not that he’s factually innocent.  There’s a difference.)  So, he needs some cash to get out of the pokey, and that’s where we get introduced to the bail bondsman.

The bail bondsman, who has been advertising his services in the yellow pages, comes in and puts down the money for Mr. Technically Innocent’s release, with the understanding that if Mr. Technically Innocent does not appear in court at the appointed time, the bail bondsman is to fork over the remaining bail amount.  In the case of Mr. Innocent (I mean, Mr. Technically Innocent), this would mean that Captain BailBonds would be out an additional $90,000, which is something that he would generally frown upon.  If Mr. Technically Innocent appears on time, it’s no big deal.  If he doesn’t, though, it’s bad news.  To make sure that he doesn’t have plunk down additional funds in the event of a courtroom no-show, Capt. BailBonds makes sure that his guy is going to appear.  If Mr. Technically Innocent skips town, the bail bondsman will send a bounty hunter after him.

The bounty hunter, who is also sometimes known as a skiptracer, is tasked with finding people who have skipped their court hearings.  These bounty hunters were made famous-ish by Boba Fett, of Star Wars fame, and the guy known as Dog the Bounty Hunter and his “hit” TV show.  They get paid by the bail bondsmen to bring these skips back to court.  While the bounty hunter does have certain rights and authority, he is NOT a peace officer (generally speaking), and is subject to many limitations which vary from state to state.

The bounty hunter in Midnight Run put his life on the line numerous times in an effort to get his fugitive back to the right jurisdiction.  It appears that the life of a bounty hunter can be fraught with danger and excitement.  The life of the bail bondsman can also have danger and risk, but appears to be more related to financial concerns than physical ones.  The life of the Guido Mafiosi, though, has danger and risk because their accountants all know everything about the family business.  Everything.