'It shows Pittsburgh for all its beauty:' 'Striking Distance' writer and director looks back 30 years later
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — It may not be the greatest movie ever made, but to many Pittsburghers "Striking Distance" is remembered as a fun action flick that really made the city look cool.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the film, and writer/director and Pittsburgh native Rowdy Herrington graciously took time out of his schedule to do an interview with KDKA-TV.
Herrington was born in East Liberty in 1951 and grew up in Penn Hills. He attended Penn State University in the late 1960s and 1970s and studied both English and television production.
After he graduated, he found himself back in Pittsburgh working at WQED on the set of "Mister Rogers Neighborhood," while also moonlighting as a steel worker in Homestead.
Eventually, TV and film became his mainstay, and by the early 1980s, he found himself living in Los Angeles, working on sets, writing screenplays, and eventually directing.
Herrington says that one of the big reasons "Striking Distance" got made is because famous Hollywood producer Joel Silver took a liking to his work and got him to direct the now cult classic film "Road House." Silver said if "Road House" was a hit, Herrington could do any project he wanted to.
Sure enough, with the success of "Road House," "Striking Distance" was soon given the green light.
Now, Herrington will be the first to admit that "Striking Distance" is flawed. If you look up "Striking Distance" today on Rotten Tomatoes, it only has a 17% rating. And when it came out in 1993, it didn't get a great reception. Siskel and Ebert called the film a "warmed-over, generic action picture that really seems tired."
So, not exactly a blockbuster.
But many Pittsburghers tend to remember this film about a Pittsburgh cop trying to solve the murder of his father while battling his demons as an awesome action flick that made the Steel City one of the main characters. On this, Herrington agrees.
"It shows Pittsburgh for all its beauty," Herrington says. "And it's got some great action scenes. It's got an iconic actor in it."
The iconic actor playing the role of tormented Pittsburgh river cop Tom Hardy was none other than Bruce Willis, someone Silver introduced Herrington to when he visited the set of "Die Hard" just a few years prior.
At the time of the filming of "Striking Distance" in 1992, Willis was at the height of his carrier, coming off a slew of successful movies including the first two "Die Hards."
Willis led an all-star cast, including his up-and-coming co-star at the time Sarah Jessica Parker and legendary character actors like Dennis Farina, Tom Sizemore, and John Mahoney.
But it wasn't Willis who was originally attached to this film. Originally, Columbia Pictures offered the lead to Robert De Niro.
"The next thing I know, Robert De Niro is attached. I meet him. He comes to my house and my wife is freaking out and I am sitting there with arguably the greatest actor of his generation," Herrington said.
And maybe that's where things started to head south for "Striking Distance." De Niro wanted rewrites to make the film more like a drama, taking out a lot of the action sequences. Columbia demanded rewrites to put the action back in, and De Niro left the project and Willis was cast.
But Willis, much like De Niro, wanted to do more of a serious film.
Herrington says that these two visions caused a lot of tension as filming began in Pittsburgh.
"He was a bit difficult," Herrington remembers. "I think part of the problem I had with Bruce is that somehow he got the Robert De Niro script. And he was at a point where he has already 'run with the gun' and he said to me, 'Why do we have to do this stuff? Look at this scene you wrote' and 'Can't we get this in the movie?' In the meantime, I am looking at the schedule, and he was not the nicest guy in the world. That's the truth."
Herrington went on to say that he feels terrible for Willis' current health battle, but he says that he can't lie and say they had the best working relationship together.
However, he did also say that he wasn't always combative with Willis. During the film in the summer of 1992, Herrington recalled the Pittsburgh Penguins were chasing their second Stanley Cup and they had a great time at one of their playoff games.
Despite the film not turning out how Herrington ultimately wanted it, he and the majority of the Pittsburgh crew had a lot of fun during production.
Herrington says that they are all very proud of what they were able to do, especially with all the practical stunts, including jumping boats off of one of the dams in the Allegheny River and filming an epic car chase through the city.
"I had some fun. The car chase in Mt. Washington. I put that up against anybody's car chase. We wrecked 40 cars," Herrington said.
So is "Striking Distance" a film that will be remembered for its high drama and award-winning acting? Probably not. But despite its flaws, it is a fun action movie that shows off the Steel City in a great way.
And if nothing else, it is a film made by a Pittsburgher largely for Pittsburghers.
As for us here at KDKA-TV, it's a special film because our very own Ken Rice made an appearance in the movie as none other than a news anchor.