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      "Mismatched Buddy" Movies

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There are certain themes that show up in movies, over and over: murder mystery; boy meets girl; revenge ("Just give me an unmarked car, a shotgun, and 48 hours, and let me handle this MY way! He killed my partner!"). One of the most prevalent in recent years has been the "mismatched buddy" theme.

It works like this: Two people who are very, very different have to live together or work together, with comical results. The story line itself may be serious (and for some reason tends to involve a "heavy" villain who is melodramatically sinister), but the interaction of the two main characters provides comic relief.

At some point during these movies, you'll hear this line of dialogue: "No! No way! The captain said we're off the case! I'll lose my badge! You're CRAZY ... oh, all right. But I'm gonna regret this!" [rolls his eyes and shakes his head ruefully]

Movie Title	The Stuffy/Conventional/ By-the-Book Character	The Wise-Ass/Slob/ Street-Wise Character
The Odd Couple	Tony Randall	Jack Klugman
Lethal Weapon	Danny Glover	Mel Gibson
Beverly Hills Cop	Judge Reinhold	Eddie Murphy
Rush Hour	Jackie Chan	Chris Tucker
Red Heat	Arnold Schwarzenegger	Jim Belushi
Black Rain	[The Japanese cop]	Michael Douglas
Tango and Cash	Sylvester Stallone	Kurt Russell
The Golden Child	Charlotte Lewis	Eddie Murphy
Shanghai Knights	Jackie Chan	Owen Wilson
Men in Black	Tommy Lee Jones	Will Smith

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Pertaining to the Craft	Tarot	Death	True Stories	On a Personal Note
My Favorite Court Cases	Completely Irrelevant	Little Dissertations	Christians and Christianity	Pendragon's Top 1000

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