When Yaphet Kotto tells DeNiro he's gonna do 10 years for impersonating a federal officer, DeNiro asks him why no one was after him or looking for him (Kotto). Yaphet Kotto gets visibly embarrassed or uncomfortable and then gives DeNiro his phone call.
The scene has always made me wonder what DeNiro meant and why Kotto reacted the way he did.
Simply meaning Yaphet Kotto didn't know how to do his job.
Kotto wasn't embarrassed; he was furious.
------
Wait a minute... who am I here?
Gotcha...thanks.
shareAnd that brings up why didn't Mosley arrest Jack for the impersonation charge in the end anyway? Was it part of the deal to arrest Dennis Franz' character that he didn't?
shareHmm, weird. My interpretation of this scene was always that Alonzo Mosely was a criminal in his youth and Jack Walsh knew about it (perhaps from his friends at the police).
shareI've seen Midnight Run too many times and is on my Top 10 list of all time movies.
I always interpreted that scene to mean that Walsh (DeNiro) was a wisecracker and was joking. Mosely (Kotto), after encountering previous wisecracks from Walsh during the movie, understands Walsh's background and attitude and actually cracks a smile in this particular scene and gets Walsh his phone call.
His real name is Mosley" I'm Mosley!!!!"
shareI always took that scene to mean that DeNiro was going around town doing all of these supposedly bad or illegal things while telling everyone he was Alonso Mosley, so everyone he came in contact with should be telling the Police that it was Mosley, so if what DeNiro was doing was so bad then the cops should have been out looking for Alonso, not him
shareJack was busting Mosely's balls and Mosely did not like that but you could tell he was controlling himself.
shareDe Niro's comment implied that since Kotto was so ineffective at finding the Duke, Kotto really was no better than a FBI impersonator.
Of course this pissed Kotto off royal because he knew De Niro made a valid point: De Niro, who Kotto previously dismissed as a "third-rate rent-a-thug", had succeeded where Kotto and his considerable FBI team had failed.
It's actually an old gag they stole from Abbott & Costello. DeNiro is a fan, so I wouldn't be surprised if that line was his contribution.
shareFirst answer nailed it. I love the line. Jack could've said "Hey a-hole, you're the one here who looks like he's pretending to his job!" but it would lack the vicious wit. It's a great quip and Moseley's reaction is priceless.
share