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Why Me? (1990 film)

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Why Me?
Directed byGene Quintano
Written byDonald E. Westlake (book)
Donald E. Westlake (screenplay)
David Koepp (as Leonard Maas, Jr.) (screenplay)
Produced byMarjorie Israël
Irwin Yablans
Starring
CinematographyPeter Deming
Edited byAlan Balsam
Music byPhil Marshall
Production
company
Epic Productions
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Entertainment Film Distributors
Release date
April 20, 1990
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Why Me? (1990) is an American caper comedy directed by Gene Quintano. 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 sidekick (Christopher Lloyd) and his girl friend (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.

Cast

Release

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