Why Me? (1990 film)

Why Me?
Why Me?
	Original theatrical poster
Directed by	Gene Quintano
Written by	Donald E. Westlake; David Koepp
Based on	Why Me?; by Donald E. Westlake
Produced by	Marjorie Israël; Irwin Yablans
Starring	Christopher Lambert; Kim Greist; Christopher Lloyd; J. T. Walsh;
Cinematography	Peter Deming
Edited by	Alan Balsam
Music by	Phil Marshall [it]
Production; company	Epic Productions
Distributed by	Triumph Films
Release date	April 20, 1990;
Running time	87 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$83,882

Why Me? is a 1990 American caper comedy film directed by Gene Quintano and starring Christopher Lambert, Kim Greist, Christopher Lloyd, and J. T. Walsh. The screenplay is credited to Donald E. Westlake and Leonard Maas Jr. (a pseudonym of David Koepp), and is based on the fifth book in Westlake's series of John Dortmunder novels.

Plot

The Byzantine Fire, a sacred ruby on loan from Turkey to the United States for exhibition, no sooner arrives in Los Angeles than it is stolen by Eastern religious extremists and hidden inside the safe of a local jewelry store. When professional burglar and jewel thief Gus Cardinale (Christopher Lambert) breaks into the store and inadvertently steals the Byzantine Fire, he finds himself being chased around Los Angeles by the LAPD, the entire Los Angeles criminal element (whom the police have been mercilessly harassing in order to find the thief), two less-than-competent CIA agents, Turkish government agents and a not-too-tightly wrapped female Armenian terrorist. Now Gus, with the help of his wacky partner Bruno (Christopher Lloyd) and his girlfriend June (Kim Greist), must figure out a way to not only return the Byzantine Fire without getting caught but also stay alive long enough to do so and just maybe make a profit out of the whole deal.

Cast

Christopher Lambert as Gus Cardinale
Kim Greist as June Daley
Christopher Lloyd as Bruno Daley
J. T. Walsh as Chief Inspector Francis Mahoney
Gregory Millar as Leon
Wendel Meldrum as Gatou Vardebedian
Michael J. Pollard as Ralph
John Hancock as Tiny

Release

The film was released on April 20, 1990 in the United States.

External links

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