liamforeman I just rewatched this since the 80s. I could barely get through it. It was unbearably boring, nonsensical, and annoying.Let's start with the first scene. A family is under police protection in the middle of nowhere. The wife tries to make a phone call and realizes the line has been cut. They freak out and all of a sudden the police guards are killed plus this boy's parents. But before the wife gets it the assassin makes a call to his boss. HUH? The line was cut! So there already was an obvious error.As for the rest two hit men kidnap this annoying kid. The kid had an annoying accent and was so stupid you'd wish for his demise. Adam Baldwin was terrible as a psychopath. Roy Scheider didn't need to do much.Anyway, I highly unreccommend this.

Scott LeBrun "Cohen and Tate" is a reasonably entertaining road movie of the dramatic kind: mismatched mafia hit men Cohen (Roy Scheider) and Tate (Adam Baldwin) carry out an assignment to kidnap young Travis (Harley Cross of "The Believers"), gunning down his parents and the FBI agents watching over them. Travis had witnessed a mob rubout and now the employers of Cohen and Tate want to know everything that the kid knows before taking *him* out. The problem is, nothing goes smooth because of the two opposing personalities in play here. Cohen is the Older and Wiser type, very weary at having to put up with a hothead punk such as Tate, the kind of guy who enjoys violence way too much. Travis soon notices this and realizes that his best chances for survival lie in attempting to pit them against one another.Eric Red, screenwriter of "The Hitcher" and "Near Dark", made his feature length directing debut with this moderately interesting, very well paced little film, his version of the O. Henry story "The Ransom at Red Chief". Most of the film takes place inside a car, so he proves up to the challenge of shooting in a claustrophobic environment and keeping the audience involved in what is happening. As Cohen and Tate spend more and more time with each other, things just get more and more grim and uneasy. Tate has shown his capacity for savagery, and his quick temper, and the increasingly more frustrated Cohen finds it harder and harder to maintain his self control. What is often truly disturbing is seeing guns repeatedly leveled at young Cross' head. You really fear for this kids' life.Right from the start, Red is ratcheting up the suspense, diving head first into the action. In an odd touch, he gets his back story out of the way *very* quickly with a brief expository text. Then things soon get ugly. Red does an excellent job of keeping his tone grim throughout. Much of the effectiveness, however, can be attributed to the acting. Baldwin is a live wire in his part, and young Cross delivers a sympathetic, mature performance, holding his own opposite his more experienced co-stars. Scheider is of course superb; he's as commanding as ever as the professional killer saddled with a loose cannon partner. Cooper Huckabee ("The Funhouse") is good in his brief screen time as Travis' father. Talents behind the camera include composer Bill Conti and cinematographer Victor J. Kemper."Cohen and Tate" is good stuff and is worth seeking out or rediscovering for the cult movie aficionado.Seven out of 10.

manuel-pestalozzi This film is not bad, it has excellent camera-work, many good ideas and creates an atmosphere. The editing is at times sloppy and the action is a little repetitious. Two professional criminals have to deliver a boy witness to the mob. And they fail. The movie shows the reasons.What lifts Cohen and Tate above the average is the top performance of Roy Scheider, an extremely talented thespian who unfortunately can show his wide range and his brilliance only too rarely. In Cohen he really creates a very memorable character, a truly tragicomic toughguy. Cohen and Tate resembles at times Reservoir Dogs, at times Fargo, and it is only fair to mention that both these hugely successful (and on the whole superior) movies were made years after this one. It makes one regret that Scheider never worked with either Quentin Tarantino or the Coen Brothers.For everyone who finds interest in Cohen and Tate I can recommend, as far as Scheider is concerned, John Frankenheimer's excellent 52 Pick-Up. For a somewhat „sublimated" version of Cohen and Tate see Stephen Frears' The Hit, with John Hurt in the Cohen part, Reservoir Dog Tim Roth in the Tate part and Terence Stamp and Laura del Sol jointly in the Travis Knight part.

davidddt I cannot understand why this movie has not been given better reviews. One of those films which surprises you with its originality and which having seen it you cannot understand why it has not been given more screen time. Brilliant professional acting between Baldwin and Scheider keeps you guessing till the end as to who is going to win the battle of wills between the two men and the boy. A terrific black comedy of errors which makes you feel almost sorry for the two hit men. It would be a mistake not to watch this movie simply because you have read the bad reviews of it on this site. It deserves to be released worldwide on DVD.