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[[quoteright:266:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cohen-and-tate-movie-poster-1010546076_5725.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:266:They were hired killers going up against the deadliest force of all...Each other.]]

''Cohen and Tate'' is a suspenseful high tension 1989 neo-noir thriller starring Creator/RoyScheider and Creator/AdamBaldwin about a boy that's been kidnapped by two mismatched hitmen.

The boy tries to put them at each other's throats while being driven to their employers, possibly to be killed. Cohen, an older no-nonsense, straight-laced, professional becomes increasingly irritated with his partner Tate, a young, brutish, hot-tempered, psychopathic killer. When their prisoner uses unnatural guile and resourcefulness to play them off against each other the movie becomes filled with edgy, suffocating tension. Written and directed by Creator/EricRed, who also brought us ''Film/NearDark'' and ''Film/TheHitcher''.
It's basically a ''much'' DarkerAndEdgier variation of O. Henry's "The Ransom of Red Chief".

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!!The film provides examples of:

* AffablyEvil: Cohen despite being a professional mob hitman, he [[spoiler:couldn't bring himself to kill Travis near the end of the film]].
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: Cohen at the end of the film, to the point of being DrivenToSuicide.]]
* AntagonistTitle: Cohen and Tate are the name of the film's villains which young Travis tried to elude as well as the {{Villain Protagonist}}s of the overall film.
* AxCrazy: Tate is a psychopath obsessed with hurting and/or killing everyone he can.
* BadassLongcoat: Cohen wears a long trench coat.
* BalanceOfPower: Possibly why Cohen & Tate was forced to work with each other so they can compensate for each other's personality, flaws, strengths, and weakness. Cohen balance out Tate's hotheadedness, Tate balances out Cohen's age, and physical weakness.
* BatmanGambit: Travis pulls this on his captors by figuring out Cohen and Tate's psychological weaknesses. Cohen is old and weary, and Tate is an unhinged reckless psycho.
* BigBad: At first Cohen and Tate acts as the BigBadDuumvirate with TheDon who hired them to be the GreaterScopeVillain, but by the climax, Tate acts as this solely.
* BoringButPractical: Cohen's method of killing. And ironically the thing that screws him and Tate over in the end.
* DeadpanSnarker: Cohen. Actually the only one in the movie with a bit of sarcasm.
* DivideAndConquer: Travis play Cohen and Tate off of each other.
* DoNotTauntCthulhu: Travis does this '' A LOT'' to Tate. But this is part of his gambit to get the tension between Tate and Cohen to build up. As he knows Cohen won't allow Tate to hurt him before they get to their employers.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Cohen shoots himself in front of Travis after realizing there was no escape after being surrounded by police in every direction.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Cohen stops by a mailbox to deliver an envelope of cash and a trinket to a family member named Pamela Cohen living in California.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Cohen is driven by principle unlike the amoral Tate, it's because of these principles is why [[spoiler:he turns against Tate and couldn't bring to commit MurderSuicide[=/=]TakingYouWithMe with Travis even when he's on the brink of a VillainousBreakdown and decides to kill himself instead at the end.]]
* EvilVsEvil: Cohen and Tate, who already had feud to start with, end up fighting and trying to kill each other.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Tate, who warps between being a FunPersonified party animal and a savage animal at the same time.
* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: The FBI agents assigned to protect the Knight family whom apparently was in a witness protection program. Good all that did, as Cohen and Tate effortless waltzed in and killed most of everyone.
* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:Probably what's going through Cohen's head after going through the ordeal with Tate and now surrounded by the cops while he himself is unable to commit the deed of killing Travis himself, prompting him to turn the gun on himself instead.]]
* HiddenHeartOfGold: Apparently, Cohen may have one, which Travis uses to his advantage to get him to sic on Tate and how he refuses to kill him despite several chances.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Cohen is ''VERY'' skilled with his Colt pistol. [[spoiler: he shoots a state trooper in the back of the head while driving behind said troopers squad car. After suspecting of being recognized by the gas station attendant he shoots the clerk several yards away, ''and'' the phone he was using, including shooting out the power to the gas station!!, Travis' dad was one lucky mofo to survive being shot by this guy.]]
* {{Irony}}: Cohen pretty much chew out Tate over the fact he's a WildCard, and being careless and sloppy. The irony comes from the fact that [[spoiler: Tate, makes sure all of his victims are deader than dead, while Cohen's reserved, practical method of killing Travis dad with one shot fails to get the job done.]] Essentially setting into motion their gradual downfall.
* IWorkAlone: Cohen apparently use to, but was forced to work with Tate by their employers.
* LaughablyEvil: Tate, a psycho with a twisted sense of humor.
* LetsYouAndHimFight: Cohen and Tate are definitely not getting along at any point of their partnership and Travis tries to manipulate them into killing each other constantly [[spoiler:and succeeds at the climax. The resulting fight ends Tate, and Cohen survives long enough to figure out he screwed up the assignment, [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled deciding to kill himself rather than be taken by the cops]].]]
* NobleDemon: Cohen, who still has a little humanity left in him despite being a hired killer.
* OhCrap: When Travis see that [[spoiler:Tate is still alive after looking through the back windshield, whom was creepily illuminated thanks to the red brake lights]].
* OrderVersusChaos: Cohen and Tate are almost physical manifestations of this respectively. Cohen being calm and level headed, while Tate is the polar opposite.
* PlethoraOfMistakes: Whoo boy... [[spoiler: possibly starting with the fact that Cohen botched his kill (Travis' dad).]] Which led to a gradual domino effect of issues.
%% * PsychoForHire: Tate
%% * PsychoPartyMember: Tate..''obviously''
* PunchClockVillain: Unlike Tate who kills for the fun of it, Cohen's an old pro only concern with accomplishing his job and is a NobleDemon in comparison to Tate.
* RedOniBlueOni: Cohen and Tate, So much so they can't even stand each other, and start to show signs of very short nerves towards the end. Travis of course helps move this along until their VillainousBreakdown.
* RoadTripPlot: 90% of the movie takes place on the road.
* TemptingFate: Travis does this '' A LOT'' to Tate. But this is part of his gambit to get the tension between Tate and Cohen to build up until both of them has a detrimental VillainousBreakdown. As he knows Cohen won't allow Tate to hurt him before they get to their employers.
* TheSociopath: Cohen could be this. Unlike Tate he rarely shows emotions. He kills people without losing his composture and he outright tells Travis that he'll be probably killed by his boss after being interrogated. However, [[CharacterDevelopment after all that happened]] and near the end, [[spoiler:Cohen points his gun at Travis several times, but he decides against it, showing a little bit of humanity]], which is even pointed out by Travis himself.
* SupportingProtagonist: Most of the character arc and tension between Cohen and Tate are told from the viewpoint of and manipulated by Travis.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler: Tate uses ''SIX'' shotgun shells to kill Travis's mom, while Cohen shoots his dad just once (a shot that didn't kill him).]] Which leads to the PlethoraOfMistakes.
* TookALevelInBadass: Travis becomes a DefiantCaptive who uses his psychological wits and guile to pit his two kidnappers against each other.
* VillainProtagonist: The titular Cohen and Tate, especially the former, when Tate becomes the personal BigBad and the actual threat of the story.
* VillainRespect: [[spoiler:By the end of the film, Cohen developed this towards Travis.]]
* VillainousBSOD: Cohen has one when he is [[spoiler:surrounded by the cops before killing himself]].
* VillainousBreakdown: Thanks to Travis turning his captors against each other, both the titular Cohen and Tate ended up going through this.
* WildCard: Tate, being a hot headed psycho..
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Travis, despite being a nine-year-old, is smart enough to use psychological manipulation to get his enemies to kill each other.
* WitlessProtectionProgram: The film begins with the Knight family entering Witness Protection and about four minutes later (and very shortly afterwards InUniverse) Cohen and Tate arriving to the safe house and massacring all of the Federal agents assigned to protect the family and the family except for Travis [[spoiler:and Travis' dad, if only accidentally]].
* WitnessProtection: The Knight family, for being a witness in a organized crime case.
* WorthyOpponent: What is ultimately boils down to, a rapport between Travis and Cohen.
* YoureInsane: Travis yells at Cohen that [[CaptainObvious Tate is "nuts"]], in which Cohen replies by wearily saying "''I Know''".
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