Bird on a Wire

PG-13

1990

1h 50m

Romance

Comedy

List

25%

Tomatometer

24 Reviews

41%

Audience Score

50,000+ Ratings

Rick Jarmin (Mel Gibson) is put in witness protection after he helps the FBI bust drug dealer Eugene Sorenson (David Carradine). Fifteen years later, he is living with a new identity as a gas station attendant in Detroit. When an old flame named Marianne (Goldie Hawn) stops at the gas station and recognizes him, his cover gets blown. The recently released Sorenson finds out, and both Jarmin and Marianne have to flee across the country with the vengeful Sorenson in hot pursuit.

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Rent Bird on a Wire on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: D

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

We don't believe the characters, and so the elaborate chases and escapes and stunts and special effects are all affectations.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: D

May 18, 1990

Full Review

Terry Francis

Southern Voice (Atlanta)

Another homophobic Mel Gibson movie.

Rated: 0/4

May 9, 2023

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Bird on a Wire is an unstoppable carousel that leaves you with motion sickness. [Full review in Spanish]

Nov 11, 2022

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Boy, is this one bird-brained movie.

Rated: 1.5/4

Sep 24, 2021

Full Review

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Munkhchimeg T

Action with many excited moments ✨ cool

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/20/24

Full Review

Glen W

Ridiculous plot, atrocious acting, moronic movie.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/01/24

Full Review

Del

The niche of 1990; the hair, the music, the corniness.. and who didn't love Mel and Goldie? This movie was released one year before I made my debut, and watching it as an adult 32 years later, it's everything I've hoped it to be. There's something that only certain generations can appreciate, and thankfully, as the tail end of the millennials, I can honestly say this movie doesn't disappoint! So many reminiscent moments with my family as a child of the 90's and an 80's massive buff. This movie is… muah 😘!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/23/24

Full Review

Nina G

Watched this movie several times and has a good mixture of fear, tension, love and sex appeal. Roles are of course kind of archetypical, but it's entertainment not reality. The story is quite interesting and the up by and downs to escape their enemies until the really captivating end in the zoo are what makes a film a fulfilling evening entertainment.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/11/24

Full Review

Carlos I

It's a pretty simple and silly action-comedy that's not gonna win any awards for originality, but it's light, breezy and fun. Hawn and Gibson have electric chemistry and make for a team I can watch all day.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/24/23

Full Review

Jack t

And now my No. 1 action comedy is Bird on the wire! It IS one of the awesomest films of all time. I've seen it a million times and I'll probably seen it a million times again.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/18/23

Full Review

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John Badham

Director

Mel Gibson

Rick Jarmin

Goldie Hawn

Marianne Graves

David Carradine

Eugene Sorenson

Bill Duke

Eugene Sorenson

Stephen Tobolowsky

Joe Weyburn

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Bird on a Wire: Official Clip - Airplane Chase

2:56

Bird on a Wire: Official Clip - Chased by the Cops

2:22

Bird on a Wire: Official Clip - The Michelangelo of Hair

1:29

Bird on a Wire: Official Clip - Operating on Rick

1:55

Bird on a Wire: Official Clip - Roach Motel

1:40

Bird on a Wire: Official Clip - A Little Extra Effort

2:33

Bird on a Wire: Official Clip - Tiger Chase

1:51

Bird on a Wire: Official Clip - The Train Tunnel

1:31

Bird on a Wire: Official Clip - Could You Look at My Butt?

2:00

Bird on a Wire: Official Clip - Sharing the Bed

2:23

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Synopsis

Rick Jarmin (Mel Gibson) is put in witness protection after he helps the FBI bust drug dealer Eugene Sorenson (David Carradine). Fifteen years later, he is living with a new identity as a gas station attendant in Detroit. When an old flame named Marianne (Goldie Hawn) stops at the gas station and recognizes him, his cover gets blown. The recently released Sorenson finds out, and both Jarmin and Marianne have to flee across the country with the vengeful Sorenson in hot pursuit.

Director: John Badham
Producer: Rob Cohen
Screenwriter: David Seltzer, Louis Venosta, Eric Lerner
Production Co: Universal Pictures, Interscope Communications
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 2, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $68.8M
Runtime: 1h 50m
Sound Mix: Surround

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